Darkest Knight
by LordofAmus
Summary: WILL BE RE-WRITEN! Chrono dies in a battle with a soul eater and Rosette fights to rescue Joshua and bring her partner back to live. Things are going wrong at the Order and she doesn't know who to trust. Where is Chrono when you need him? CXR
1. Chapter 1

**Darkest Night**

**AN:** Sorry for the weird style. I wrote this on my iPod and it make the format all weird. I don't know how to fix it so you'll just have to deal with it I'm almost finished with chapter three. I'll hopefully be able to post chapter 2 after I post this.

**Disclaimer:** Hikari does not own or claim to own any of the Chrono Crusade characters.

_A small demon_ sat down on his bed in his room in the Elders work  
house. Placing a towel under his long purple hair to soak up the water  
that dripped off of his waist long hair as he combed it. The boy began  
to brush his long hair. The moon light filtered through his window. It  
was late at night. He was probably the only one up in the Magdalene  
Order, a convent that trained it's nuns to exorcise demons and devils.  
The boy himself was a high ranking demon. He was allowed to live in  
the Order since he held a contract with Rosette Christopher. He  
finished combing his hair. He'd have to wait until the morning for  
Rosette to braid his hair. He tensed when someone knocked softly on  
his door. He put the brush down and crept as silent as a cat to the  
door. The doors rusty hinges creaked as he pried the door open.

"Rosette, what are you doing here so late?" he asked concerned.

"I had a nightmare!" she murmured. Crystal tears brimmed in her azure  
eyes.

"Want to talk about it!" the demon asked.

"Would you mind, Chrono?" she asked. This worried Chrono. Rosette was  
never this polite. She was always trying to be in command. She  
demanded things to be done and she always ran forward. Her dream must  
have bothered her. He took her over and sat down on his bed. Rosette  
sat behind him and grabbed his yellow ribbon from the table nearby and  
began separating his silky hair into three sections. Her hands moved  
in their familiar pattern as she plated his hair into a long braid.

"I dreamed about Seventh Bell" she whispered quietly. Chrono closed  
his eyes sadly. The poor girl had suffered so much and it was his  
fault. He wanted to comfort her but he knew all to well that she would  
smack him.

"I dreamed that Joshua was taken away again. Except this time it  
wasn't Aion who took him." she said. I heard her pause and take a  
shaky breath. "It was you"

"Me?" I asked.

"Uh-huh" Rosette said. "You were so scary looking. You were in your  
demon form and you were laughing at Joshua and I"

"Laughing?" Chrono asked.

"Yeah. Joshua and I screamed for each other and you were smiling and  
laughing at us. You said 'Give me back what's mine or I'll kill what's  
yours' I think you meant about your horns or something. I don't know!" Rosette said.

"Rosette!" Chrono said. He didn't know what to do to comfort her.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late at night. I just wanted to see you so  
I knew it wasn't real!" Rosette said.

"You can come see me anytime. I'm here for you" Chrono said. Rosette  
tied off his braid. Chrono turned around to face her.

"Thanks Chrono." Rosette said.

"Rosette?" Chrono asked.

"Yes" she said.

"Do you regret our contract?" he asked. His crimson gaze looked at  
hers with nothing but seriousness.

"No. Of coarse not" Rosette said.

"Not even just a little?" Chrono asked. Rosette shook her head. "I  
mean everything that happened with Joshua is my fault. I chose to join  
Aion. Because of that, Aion has Pandemonium's head, Magdalene is dead,  
Joshua is missing and you probably won't live to be-"

"Chrono stop!" Rosette yelled interrupting him. Chrono looked up at  
her sadly. "I don't regret making the contract with you but sometimes  
you really do annoy me"

"Rosette. Please look at things from my point of view. If I had been  
smarter and stronger I could have killed Aion before he did all of  
this" Chrono said.

"CHRONO! I said to stop! God, you really do get annoying when you  
get like this!" Rosette shouted.

"When I get like this?" Chrono asked. His red eyes shown in hurt.

"You get all mopey and sad. I really hate you like this!" Rosette said.

"You hate me?" Chrono said. His voice was thick in hurt.

"Ugh! I can't talk about this now Chrono! I'm going back to my room!"  
Rosette said standing up.

"Rosette please don't go. Just talk to me!" Chrono begged her.

"Good night Chrono!" Rosette hissed coldly as she stormed out of his  
room and slammed his door. Chrono winced.

"Rosette hates me!" he said. She hadn't denied it or agreed to it so  
she must really hate him. He closed his eyes. He knew he wouldn't be  
able to sleep so he sat on his bed. Rosettes words echoed in his head.

The Next morning (Sorry for some reason I can't use those little dashy thingies)

Rosette woke up early which was out of character for her. She had felt  
bad for yelling at Chrono when he was feeling guilty.

"Great! Now he probably thinks I hate him! Just great Rosette!" she  
said to herself. She got dressed in her militia outfit and opened the  
door. She recoiled in surprise with a shriek. Father Remington stood  
in the doorway just about to knock in the door.

"Oh Father! I didn't know you were standing there!" she exclaimed  
blushing.

"Sorry to frighten you so early in the morning Sister Rosette. Sister  
Kate would like to speak with you. Don't worry, your not in trouble"  
Remington said with a smile.

"Ok. I'll go get Chrono!" Rosette exclaimed.

"No need. He's already waiting" Remington said.

"Oh" Rosette said slightly disappointed. Rosette silently followed  
Remington to the Head Nuns office. Rosette walked into the room.  
Sister Kate and Chrono looked at her. Rosettes gaze met Chronos.  
Chrono reverted his gaze away from her quickly. Regret and sadness  
pinched Rosette harshly.

"Ah Sister Rosette. Good. I need you and Chrono to quickly get to  
Central Park and exorcise a demon." Sister Kate said.

"Ok. I'll go get supplies from the Elder" Rosette said.

"No need. It's all here. You might to use this though!" Sister Kate  
held up a strange looking cross.

"What is it?" Rosette asked.

"This is a quicker way to perform the Dive" Kate explained.

"How does it work?" Rosette asked looking at the cross was a huge hunk  
of gold.

"You just touch it to them." Sister Kate said.

"Whoa. Really? That's it?" Rosette asked in amazement. Sister Kate  
nodded.

"But be careful. The demons are both high classed" Sister Kate said.

"Both?" Rosette asked.

"Yes. A demon took over another demons body. You've dealt with a  
similar case so hurry up!" Sister Kate said. She knew the city was in  
chaos and Rosette would stop the demons and add to the damage as well.  
Rosette nodded. Chrono and her raced out of the convent to they're  
car. Rosette drove as quickly as she could. She narrowly missed a tree.

"Chrono, about last night..." she began.

"Not now Rosette. We'll talk after this is over" Chrono said. He was  
desperately holding the car seat in a death grip. His frightened look  
betrayed the hurt her words caused him. Rosette simply nodded. She  
slammed the brakes sending the car in a spiral. The car came to an  
abrupt stop as it collided with the side of a brick building. Rosette  
and Chrono got out of the car with a grunt. Chrono grabbed the heavy  
gear pack and slung it effortlessly over his shoulder.

"Lets go!" Chrono exclaimed to Rosette. She nodded determined and ran  
beside Chrono into Central Park.

Screaming people ran past them. A few bodies lay on the grass. Despite  
the screaming everything was quiet. Chrono shifted his weight unevenly.

"Here" he said tossing Rosette a gun filled with Gospels. Rosette  
smiled in determination and ran on ahead. Chronos blood red eyes  
turned silver for a fleet second. He hurried to catch up to Rosette.

"I sense remorse and uncontrollable anger" he said.

"Remorse and uncontrollable anger? That's a strange mix and I didn't  
think demons felt remorse" Rosette said feeling an increase in dark  
demonic power.

"Gee thanks Rosette" Chrono said. Was that all he was to her? A demon?  
Could he feel remorse? Could he feel sadness or love? Were these his  
contractors thoughts of him?

"Chrono! You know that's not what I meant!" Rosette said. She looked  
at him.

"Rosette!" Chrono jumped at her and tackled her to the ground and  
covering her head in just enough time to narrowly miss a deadly energy  
ball. Chrono looked up and gasped. The demon that stode before him had  
short spiky black hair. She had cat ears sticking out from her head  
and a tail sprouting from her behind.

"Shader!" Chrono exclaimed. The cat like women smirked at him. Her  
usually kind eyes were dilated and were as black as coal. "Shader!  
Snap out of it!" Chrono shouted.

"Hello Sinner Chrono!" Shader hissed menacingly. Rosette looked in  
confusion.

"Stand back Rosette. I'll handle Shader. I sense other demonic  
presences in the park" he lied smoothly. "So take a gun and give me  
the thing for the Dive"

Rosette nodded and took the cross out of it's special holster and  
pulled out her gun.

"I'll catch up with you soon!" Chrono said. Rosette nodded and dashed  
away in search of the 'demon presences'. Chrono bared his teeth.  
Shader flicked her ears in amusement.

"So you've become a dog of God now? How very interesting!" Shader  
said. She swished her tail.

"Who are you and what are you doing with Shader?" Chrono demanded. The  
other demon laughed loudly. Chrono growled in annoyance.

"You ask a lot of questions that all have one answer!" Shader said.  
"Soul eater"

"Let Shader go!" Chrono said. Shader took a few steps toward him.  
Chrono backed away realizing his weapon bag was to far away.

"What's wrong? Don't you have your gun?" Shader teased. She laughed  
menacingly.

"I don't need my gun! Come closer I dare you!" Chrono exclaimed. He  
planted his feet firmly in the ground. Shader's ears twitched.

"My pleasure!"

Shader dashed as Chrono as fast as lightning. Chrono extended his arm  
with the cross in his hand. As soon as the cross touched Shader a  
white holy light blinded both the demons, causing them both to fall to  
the ground.

Chrono blinked his eyes open knowing he was inside of Shader's soul. He  
found The real Shader standing in solemn thought in her lab at Eden.

"Shader! Look over here!" he exclaimed. Shader didn't flinch.

"It's no use Sinner. Her soul belongs to me" a voice said. Chronos gaze turned  
to another Shader who's eyes were dilated and black.

"What have you done to her?" Chrono asked.

"I did nothing. I like living in this body. She is weak. She wanted to  
stick up for you and Magdalene but she was too loyal and frightened  
perhaps, of Aion." the soul eater replied. A light bulb seemed to  
light in Chronos head. He turned back to the remorseful Shader.

"Shader it's not too late! You can stand up against Aion!" Chrono  
yelled. Shader's ear twitched to his direction. He continued. "Come  
back with me! You can help create weapons with the Elder! You can help  
us without fighting Aion directly!"

Shader looked at Chrono. Her eyes becoming brighter and hopeful.

"You can make up for the past fifty years if you come with me!" Chrono  
said holding out his hand. Shader smiled and took it. The Dive broke  
apart. The soul eater screamed as it tried to stay in Shader's body.

To quick for Chrono or even Shader to notice herself the soul eater  
created a huge energy ball in it hand and extended it's hand to  
Chrono. He was so close he was touching him. He released the ball with  
a scream and disappeared leaving Shader panting.

Chrono flew back and screamed in agony as the energy ball hit him. He  
collided to the ground after hitting a tree.

"CHRONO!" Shader screamed seeing his motionless body. Shader scampered  
over to his side. Blood pooled out of a big wound in Chronos torso.  
His breathing was ragged, each breath causing pain and requiring a lot  
of effort. Shader gently put his head on her lap.

"Chrono, I'm so sorry!" she said. Tears brimmed her eyes.

"Its...ok...Shader. It's...not...your fault." he managed to choke  
out. Blood leaked from his mouth and slide down his pale chin. His red  
eyes were clouded with pain. He drew shaky shallow breaths.

"Chrono! I'm so sorry! Please don't go!" Shader begged him. Chronos  
trembling hand rested on top of hers. He gave her hand a weak squeeze.  
His voice got caught in his throat as blood filled his lungs.

"T...tell...Ro...Rosette...that...I...I'm s...so...sorry f...or  
leaving. T...tell her t...that she m...must  
c...con...continue...t...to look for...J...Joshua" he said. His red  
eyes slowly became more distant.

"No! You must tell her yourself! You can't die!" Shader cried.  
Chronos mouth curved into a pained smile.

"T...thank y...you Sha...Shade...r" he said. He squeezed her hand  
tightly. He tensed up and cringed in pain. He let out a small gasp  
before more blood trickled from his mouth. Tears began to stream down  
Shader's face. Chronos eyes seemed to look hopeful for a second. A  
smile tugged at his bloody mouth. His eyes glazed over and his hand  
fell from Shader's grasp as he went limp.

Shader covered her face with her hands and sobbed. She didn't know how  
long she sobbed until Rosette returned.

"Chrono! I didn't find any demons. Are you sure you...-" her voice  
stopped abruptly as she saw Chrono laying limply in a puddle of his own  
blood.

"No. Nonononono!" she said quietly. She stumbled over to Chronos body  
and fell to her knees. "NO!" she cried. Sobs and gasped racked her.  
She cried until she couldn't cry any more. She sniffed and wiped some  
of her tears.

"We should get him back to the Order" Rosette said. Shader nodded  
still in shock. Tears were dried on her face leaving marks. Shader  
picked up his body gently not caring about the blood on her clean  
white lab coat. She carried him all the way back to the Order with  
Rosette walking beside her. Rosette knew shed get yelled at for  
crashing the car again but that was the last thing on her mind. Chrono  
was dead. The one person who had been there for her during her dark  
times was gone. The one who protected her with his life, the one who  
she fought with the night before was dead. Grief was enough for  
Rosette to bear but to know Chrono thought she hated him and to not  
make up for it before he died was unbearable. How could she ever make  
up for it? Would he be allowed into heaven? Where would Chrono go? She  
didn't want to think about it but no matter how hard she tried her  
thoughts always returned to the small demon who lay dead in Shader's  
arms.

**AN:** I hope you enjoyed it! Please review! I accept anonymous reviews and I like critical stuff so feel free to be mean (Just no spearing XP.) Arigato gonzaimasu (Formal Japanese for Thank you) Oh and for those wondering I am thinking of pausing or discontinuing my other Chrono Crusade fic A New Contract. I don't like that one that much and I have a bad case of writers block. *Coughs innocently* Tee hee! YAY! I think this is my longest chapter yet so far! No…wait…Idk! Haha!

UNTILL CHAPTER 2!


	2. Chapter 2

**Darkest Knight**

**Sorry:** I had to repost this since I accidently only posted half of the story. Haha. Heres the entire story! Enjoy!

**AN:** Hi I'm back! Haha. I should explain again that my dash thingies do not work so you will have to suffer the corny transitions that I am using to replace my dashes. Also I'm sorry for my bad attempt for Satella's German accent. *Fails* Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Hikari does not own or claim to own Chrono Crusade.

_When they returned_ it was lunch time. Thankfully all the other Sisters  
were eating lunch including Azmaria and Satella. The hallways were  
empty thankfully. Rosette didn't know if she could stand to see the  
others horrified faces as Shader walked in carrying Chronos bloody  
form. Rosette found herself confused. She let her feet carry her. She  
surprised herself to be in front of Sister Kate's office.

"Stay out here. I must speak with Sister Kate and Father Remington"  
Rosette said in a voice so quiet that it was a wonder that Shader's cat/  
demon ears heard her. Shader nodded and held Chrono a little tighter.

Rosette didn't bother to knock on the door. She walked in quietly  
staring at her feet.

"Sister Rosette! What took you so long! I assume you crashed a car  
again? Honestly! I don't know how the Order is going to pay for all  
your cars!" Sister Kate shouted. Remington noticed how quiet Rosette  
was. She wasn't arguing back with Sister Kate. He was worried. He  
noticed her demon companion wasn't beside her. He put his hand on  
Kate's shoulder. That snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Rosette? What's wrong?" Remington asked quietly. Rosette didn't look  
up. She knew if she did she would break down and cry.

"Rosette?" Remington asked quietly. "Where is Chrono?"

At the mention of her dear partners name made Rosette break down. Her  
shoulders shook as sobs racked her empty body. Without Chrono her  
heart felt hollow. Remington walked over and drew her in for a hug.  
Rosette buried her head into his militia shirt.

"He's gone! He's gone forever! Why him? Why Chrono? Why Joshua? Why did  
they have to leave?" Rosette sobbed.

"Rosette, tell me what happened?" Remington asked. He closed his eyes  
sadly. He had come to think of Chrono and Rosette as his family. To  
lose Chrono and to see Rosette so sad made his heart ache.

"The soul eater took over Shader and..."

"Shader?"

"One of the Sinners. But she isn't evil. She's like Chrono" Rosette  
explained though her tears. She continued "The soul eater took over  
Shader. Chrono used the dive and..."

"CHRONO used the Dive?" Sister Kate exclaimed.

"Yes" Rosette said not even flinching at her harsh tone.

"Demons should not perform dives on other demons! It uses to much of  
they're energy and makes the Diver slow to react." Kate explained.

"What?" Rosette exclaimed. More tears sprung to her eyes. "You didn't  
tell me that!" Rosette cried.

"Please continue" Remington asked softly.

"I don't really know what happened. Shader told me he did a dive but I  
don't really know what happened after that. I didn't want to make  
Shader and more upset. She was already so upset" Rosette said.

"Is she here? Can we speak with her?" Kate asked.

"Yes she is. Let me get her" Rosette said. She opened the door a crack  
and said something quietly into the hallway. The door opened all the  
way as Shader pushed her way through carrying Chrono. She had covered  
his chest with her lab coat. Remington took the small boy from her. He  
cringed slightly realizing the warmth was gone. Remington was at least  
happy that he looked peaceful. He decided listen to Shader before  
taking Chrono to his room, since it seemed the most appropriate place  
for him.

"I woke up from the Dive, I think you call it? I could feel that  
monsters presence inside me becoming weaker but then..." she paused.  
"Then that monster put his hand on Chronos chest. A light glowed and  
Chrono flew back. Oh God, there was so much blood." Shader said. Her  
eyes were distant as she kept replaying the scenes in her head.

"Thank you Shader. We will talk about your housing later" Remington  
said.

"Er...yes..." Kate said shooting Remington a glance "But right now I  
think you two should get some rest. Shader you can stay in Rosettes  
room for now I guess" Kate was reluctant to let another demon into her  
convent.

"Thank you" Rosette and Shader said in unison. Remington got up from  
his chair. He walked out of the room followed by a grieving Shader and  
Rosette. Remington led the way to the Elders hut. Thankfully the Elder  
wasn't in. Remington took the small demon to the dark room in the back  
and laid him softly on the bed.

"It was a pleasure to get to know you Chrono. We'll all miss you no  
matter what Sister Kate thinks she thinks" Remington said quietly. He  
left the room and faced Rosette and Shader.

"I'm going to talk to Azmaria and Satella. See you later" Rosette said  
quietly.

"Ok. Take care Rosette" Remington said. He turned to Shaded when  
Rosette left. "I do not blame you Shader. Would you mind if you wait  
with me to talk to the Elder"

"Sure. I want to do what Chrono said" Shader said.

"And what was that?" Remington asked.

"He said that I might be able to help the Elder and create weapons. I  
feel bad about the things I helped Aion do. I want to change" Shader  
said. Hard determination flashed through her eyes.

"I will do my best to convince Sister Kate. I'm sure the Elder would be  
thrilled" Remington said.

Rosette walked over to Azmaria and Satella who were eating in the mess  
hall. She plastered a smile to her face and tried to act normal.

"Hey Az, Satella! Could I talk to you outside please?" she asked.

"Sure!" Azmaria chirped her usual cheerful self.

"Vhy certainly" Satella said. Her voice had a thick German accent.  
Rosette led them outside to Chronos favorite tree. She swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry guys to bother you but Chronos...Chronos gone!" she said  
chocking back tears.

"Gone? Did Aion take him? Chrono wouldn't have ran away!" Azmaria  
exclaimed.

"No. He didn't run. He stood and fought." Rosette said. Tears sprung  
to her eyes.

"Rosette! You're not making any svense!" Satella said.

"Chronos dead" Rosette said. Azmaria and Satella gasped.

"Vhat?" Satella exclaimed. A look of total shock on her face.

"What happened?" Azmaria asked. Rosette winced seeing tears begin to  
run down Azmaria's face.

"Sit down" Rosette said sitting under the tree. She could have sworn  
she felt his presence near by. She knew she could smell his sweet  
familiar scent. She explained the events of their day in the park. By  
the time she was done Azmaria was sobbing and Satella sat in utter  
shock with a few tears streaming down her face. Azmaria nearly tackled  
Rosette is a hug. Rosette hugged the young girl back as she cried into  
her shirt.

"Its gonna be ok Azmaria. Chrono wouldn't want us to cry" Rosette  
said. Azmaria sniffed and tried not to cry.

"Your right! We shouldn't be sitting here crying! We should be going  
after Aion and looking for Joshua" Azmaria said.

"If you don't mind Vossette. I vould like to help you find your  
brother" Satella said.

"I would be happy if you helped Satella" Rosette said smiling.

"Thank you. Common Azmaria! Would you show me to Sister Kates office?"  
she asked. Azmaria nodded and stood up. Rosette waved bye to them.  
Once they were out of sight she got up from under the tree. She walked  
towards the Elders hut. She wanted to go back to the tree. She could  
sense Chrono under the tree. Walking away from it made her feel cold  
and empty. She had never realized how much she needed him. She wanted  
him back even for just a few minutes. She wanted to apologize for  
always giving him nuggies and for bossing him around. She wanted to  
tell him how much he meant to her. Most of all she wanted to  
apologize for making him think he hated her. She needed to talk to  
Remington or the Elder. Chrono had wanted Shader to help the Magdalene  
Order so Rosette vowed to make it happen.

Rosettes thoughts came to a halt outside the Elders door. She raised  
her hand to knock on the door but paused when she heard Remington speak.

"Shader says that she might have a theory to bring Chrono back"  
Remington said.

"Bring him back? That's impossible! People have tried resurrection for  
thousands of years! What makes you think you could bring him back?"  
The Elder asked.

"When demons die their body disappears in black smoke. Since Chronos  
body is still here I have reason to believe that his soul is still  
here somewhere" Shader said.

"Ok. Do you know where his soul is?" The Elder asked.

"I believe his soul is stuck in the pocketwatch. The contract is not  
one sided like you think. Rosettes soul belongs to Chrono. Chronos  
soul is also inside the pocketwatch since it needs to receive the  
astral. I can build a device that can transfer his soul from the  
pocketwatch back to his body" Shader said.

"What about his wounds. If he returns to his body he will just die  
again" Remington said.

"That's why I will sneak back to Aion and retrieve his horns from  
Joshua" Shader said.

"Couldn't we just open the seal?" The Elder asked.

"Why waste her precious time. Her time is already up as it is. Judging  
by the look at the pocketwatch, Rosette only has about a month left"  
Shader said.

Rosette looked back from the door. Chrono could come back? She only  
had a month left? This was all to much for her to take in at once.  
Part of her was overjoyed. Chrono could come back and have his horns  
back. Another part of her was in shock. A month wouldn't be enough to  
see Chrono alive again, get Joshua back and destroy Aion. Defeating  
Aion was virtually impossible as long as Chrono was gone. She didn't  
want to hear any more. She had heard enough. She turned and ran to  
find Azmaria and Satella to tell them about Chrono.

Elsewhere (Where a stupid dash should be)

"So you really succeeded in destroying the Sinner Chrono." A voice  
said from the shadows of Eden. Then it sarcastically added, "To bad  
destroyed yourself in the process. Ha. Stupid soul eaters."

"Lord Aion!" A young girls voice said standing in the doorway. She was  
in her twenties but was very petit. She wore a maids dress and had  
short black hair. Her eyes were dull and bleak.

"What is it Fiore?" the voice asked again. A tall muscular man stepped  
out of the shadows. He had broad shoulders and tan skin. His purple  
eyes changed from amusement to question. His long waist length silver  
hair was tied into a neat ponytail. He dressed in all white with a  
long white coat that almost touched the floor.

"Master Joshua had another fit. I was wondering when he would see his  
sister?" she asked politely.

"Soon, my dear, very soon. All the actors are ready and everything is  
going to plan. Shader joined the Order as I have anticipated, Chrono  
is dead and Rosette will come back for his horns as planned. Just be  
prepared. When the time comes let her speak to Joshua and come get me"  
Aion said smirking. Fiore dipped her head in submission.

"Yes Lord Aion" she said. She left the room. Aion laughed quietly.

"The time is soon Chrono. We will settle this once and for all" Aion  
said looking into the glass wall that held Pandemonium's head.

**AN:** I hope you enjoyed it! Please review! I accept anonymous reviews and I like critical stuff so feel free to be mean (Just no spearing XP.) Arigato gonzaimasu (Formal Japanese for Thank you) UNTILL CHAPTER 3!


	3. Chapter 3

**Darkest Knight. Ch. 3**

**A/N: **Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been super busy with

Homework. And sorry for the weird format (If you can see it that is)

I write on my iPod then send it to myself in an email. I'm also trying

the new format thingy on Fan fiction since I can't see any of my

stars and stuff. Lol XD This chapter is kinda random at first.

I forgot all about Mr. Spanky and ended up laughing at it…kinda lame

to laugh at my own joke. Oh well! Lol XD Hope you enjoy it! I hope

you like the song lyrics in beginning and end that I'm starting.

**Disclaimer: **Hikari does not own Chrono Crusade or any of its characters.

_I'd give anything to give me to you_

_Can you forget the world that you thought you knew?_

_If you want me,_

_Come and find me_

_Nothing's stopping you so please release me_

Lyrics to Anything For You by Evanescence 

"You can get started on that device of your as soon as I convince  
Sister Kate to let you stay" Remington said.

"Thank you Ewan" Shader said pushing her round glasses farther up her  
head.

"No problem. You just stay here and discuss your plans with the  
Elder." he said. He leaned towards Shader and whispered "If he tries  
anything there is a little something you can use to hit him with"  
Remington said glancing at the Elder.

"Don't tell her about Mr. Spanky!" The Elder exclaimed fearfully. Shader looked  
to where the Elders fearful eyes were looking at. Shader cringed to  
see a big wooden plank with a handle on one end and holes on the other.

"Oh please, I won't need that" Shader said giggling.

"Yeah! I'm not going to try anything! I know this is serious and  
frankly I'm disappointed you'd think I'd try something at a time like

this!" the Elder said. Remington ignored his comment.

"Just be careful Shader" he said. He got up from his chair and left  
the hut towards Sister Kate's office.

Shader glanced at the Elder.

"I swear I won't try anything...today" the Elder said. Shader rolled  
her eyes.

"I'll be right back. I need to look at something. Excuse me for a  
moment" she said. She got up and went into Chronos room. She saw him  
laying on the bed. He looked as if he was sleeping. She walked over to  
the side of the bed.

"Hey Chrono. It's Shader" she said quietly. Her voice was full of  
excitement. "There might be a way to bring you back. You could see  
Rosette again. I also wanted to tell you Remington is talking with  
Sister Kate. I hopefully will join the Order. I want to help Rosette  
find Joshua. Aion has made to many people suffer for our dream. I  
don't want that anymore if we have to hurt so many people to achieve  
it." Shader said. She sighed.

"I'm going to examine your wound now." Shader said. She gently took  
his jacket and shirt off. She looked down at his bare chest. Most of  
it was red. The area around his rib cage was red and his skin was  
shredded. Shader took a cotton ball out of her pocket and dabbed his  
wound once. She put it in a bag and put it back in her pocket. She  
went to his drawer and took a clean shirt out. She put the new shirt  
on and carefully folded his dirty one.

"I need your shirt too. You never know if you might need it" Shader  
said. "See you later" she left the dark room and went back to the Elder.

"What took you so long?" The Elder asked.

"I got some samples" Shader said showing him her cotton ball.

"What's that for?" the Elder said.

"I will need a blood sample for my machine. The blood will hopefully  
make the transfer from the pocketwatch to his body easier" Shader said.

"Very interesting. I look forward to working on this with you" The  
Elder said grinning. His eyes behind his odd goggles had a perverted  
glint to it.

"I'm sure I will too!" Shader exclaimed obliviously to the Elders  
double meaning. The Elder giggled like a young school girl. They heard  
the door crack open. Remington walked over grinning.

"You are allowed to bunk with Rosette. You are allowed to help the  
Elder but your ideas must be approved by Sister Kate and the Elder"  
Remington said smiling. Shader squealed and knocked over the surprised priest in a hug.

"Oh thank you so much Father! Do I need to tell her about the  
invention for Chrono?" Shader asked excited.

"I already got it approved. You can start right away." Remington said  
with a smile.

"Yay! Thank you so much!" Shader almost tackled the surprised priest  
over and hugged him.

"Ok Shader. Excuse me now but I must talk to Rosette about the horns"  
Remington said. Shader leaped up and nodded. She ran over into the  
Elders laboratory and began to look over things. Remington glanced at  
the Elder who nodded at him with a smile. Remington nodded back and  
left to find Rosette. He found her in Azmaria's room with the young  
apostle and the jewel witch. Remington knocked on her door.

"Come in!" Azmaria said. Remington came in.

"Rosette," Remington said.

"Save it Father. I heard you and the Elder and Shader talking about  
Chrono." Rosette said holding up a hand to silence him.

"So you know about the horns?" Remington asked. Rosette nodded with a  
guilty look. "Good. That saves times. I was thinking you guys would  
want to go after the horns. Shader knows where they're at. We can be  
able to rescue Joshua and the horns" Remington said. Rosettes eyes  
glowed.

"I'm in!" Rosette said.

"Me too!" Azmaria squeaked in excitement.

"Me three" Satella said smiling. Remington nodded.

"Then you will need to pack up and see the Elder for weapons"  
Remington said. "You'll leave tomorrow morning at nine"

"We're on it!" the three excited girls exclaimed. Remington loved  
their enthusiasm.

"Good. See me after the Elder and we'll discuss plans" Remington said.

"Ok!" Rosette said. Remington turned to leave. "I'll talk to you  
later! I'm going to go pack!" Remington smiled.

The Elder was hunched over a table as he fiddled with a gun. He smiled  
proudly as he finished. He heard a knock on the door. He opened the  
door unsurprised to see Rosette, Azmaria and Satella.

"Ah! I see you took your time getting here! Come inside and I'll get  
you guys ready!" the Elder said leading them into the room. He dragged  
his eyes away from Satellas chest and went to where he had laid out  
three guns.

"This is your normal gun, a Colt .45" the Elder explained. He held up  
the gun for the girls to see. "I have prepared you each with Sacred  
Spirits and Gospels. I also have some bottles of holy water and the  
cross for the Dive"

"Thanks Elder!" Rosette said reaching for the gun. The Elder pulled it  
away.

"Wait. I also made you each a special bullet. They take slot of time,  
money and effort into making so there's only one for each of you. This  
bullet is reserved for Aion and only Aion! Gospels should work for any  
of the other Sinners!" The Elder said.

"Thanks Elder!" the three chimed in as they each picked up the pack  
with all the weapons in it.

"No problem. Just be careful" The Elder said as the three girls walked  
towards the door with a wave.

"We will!" Rosette said with a wave. She closed the door behind her.

"Time to see Remington now." Satella said.

"I think I saw him in Sister Kate's office" Azmaria said. The three  
happily marched straight into Sister Kate's office. Hearing the door  
swing open Sister Kate and Father Remington looked over them. Sister  
Kate's head smacked the desk with a sigh. A smile creased onto  
Remington's face.

"I see you got your weapons. We have found that Aion and Joshua used  
to live in a house by the beach. When we searched it, it was empty but  
we saw they had fused Legion in the basement to hide the walls. From  
the information Shader told us there is a portal there in her lab that  
will take you to Eden. We are not fully sure that Joshua and the  
Sinners are up there but we have reason to believe so. Do you  
understand what I'm saying?" Remington explained.

"Yes! We're ready!" the trio said. They grinned at the priest

"Good. Just be careful. If you are not able to retrieve Joshua's horns  
come back. It is better to leave to fight another day then to die up  
there. Do you hear me?" he asked. Sister Kate had by them picked her  
head up from the table and was looking seriously with her hands  
clasped together.

"Yes! We're ready!" the trio repeated. Remington looked at them  
amused. Sister Kate sighed and banged her head on her desk again.

"Ok. We have arranged a train to take you to San Francisco where the  
house is" Remington said.

"Uh no your not! After vat happened on a tvain last time? Absolutely  
not! I am perfectly capable of getting the three of us there using my  
jewels" Satella said.

"Ok. That's even better. Just be careful and may the Lord be with you"  
Remington said.

"We will!" Azmaria said politely.

"Everything will be jake! Don't worry!" Rosette said.

"At least with my jewel you won't destroy another train and goodness  
knows how many cars" Satella said. The three began to walk out of the  
office.

"HEY! What's that suppost to mean?" Rosette shouted.

"You're so dumb Rosette! Do I need to spell it out for you?" Satella  
barked back at the fuming nun.

"Spell what out?" Rosette said confused. Satella signed and rubbed her  
forehead.

"This is going to be a long journey" she sighed. Azmaria giggled  
innocently as they walked into the garden. Satella put her hand to her  
jewel.

"Laden!" she exclaimed. A pinkish-purple winged jewel creature  
transformed. "Hop on!"

Rosette and Azmaria crawled up beside Satella.

"To San Francisco!" the three exclaimed. Satellas jewel began to speed  
away.

**A Few Agonizingly Slow Hours Later**

"Satellllaaaaaa! I'm boorrreeeddd!" Rosette whined.

"We only have a few hours left in zeh air!" Satella snapped.

"A few hours! But that's so long!" Rosette sighed.

"Just ve patient if zat is possible!" Satella said with a sigh.

"Ugh! Oh fine" Rosette said. Everything was silent accept for the  
sound of air whizzing past them.

"Are we there yet?" Rosette said after a minute.

"No!" Satella said.

"How about now?" Rosette asked.

"No!" Satella exclaimed.

"How about now?" Rosette asked with a grin.

"N-" Satella was cut off as something suddenly slammed into Satellas  
jewel creature. The three girls screamed as they slid down the slick  
jewel. Satella grabbed onto the edge. She caught Azmaria by her arm.  
Azmaria screamed in fear as Rosette fell past her.

"Vosette!" Satella yelled.

Rosette yelled as she felt nothing beneath her. She started falling  
and falling. She closed her eyes and waited to hit the ground below.  
Something grabbed her shoulder roughly. Everything blurred as she  
sharply veered to the side. She crashed against a wall. She caught a  
glimpse of black wings.

"Ku...ro...no" Rosette stuttered before the black mist consumed her.

_Catch me as I fall_

_Say you're here and it's all over now_

_Speaking to the atmosphere_

_No one's here and I fall into myself_

_This truth drives me_

_Into madness_

_I know I can stop the pain_

_If I will it all away_

Lyrics to Whisper by Evanescence

**A/N:** Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! I actually finished this chapter ages ago. Lol XD Sorry again. I do play to use people other then Evanescence for the songs at the beginning. Her songs just fit these parts. Lol XD. I am an Evanescence fanatic. I like any kind of music though that had a loud guitar, is loud and expresses how I feel. Lol XD I think I'm saying to much. Lol You guys don't care right? I thought so Anyway, please review! Reviews make me happy! Lets try this (Sorry. I'm hyper right now. I have no school today because of school and I didn't have school yesterday because of Martin Luther Kind Jr. Day! And I had a half day Friday because of Presidents day! Yay!. Lol) If there are no reviews I'm going to come after y'all with gospels and holy water! Lol XD Just kidding. Pwease review though!


	4. Chapter 4

**Darkest Knight. Ch. 4**

**A/N: **Buahaha! I still have one more chapter to upload. As I said I had finished these chapters ahead of time. I was just busy lately. Enjoy this chapter…I surprisingly don't have a lot to say.

**Disclaimer: **Hikari does not own Chrono Crusade or any of its characters.

_Every roommate kept awake_

_By every sigh and scream we make_

_All the feelings that I get_

_But I still don't miss you yet_

__

Only when I stop to think about it

__

I hate everything about you

_Why do I love you_

_I hate everything about you_

_Why do I love you_

Lyrics to (I Hate) Everything About You by Three Days Grace.   
  


Satella winced as she pulled Azmaria up onto her jewel. Azmaria pulled  
Satella up.

"W...where's Rosette?" Azmaria panted.

"I don't know" Satella said. She looked around desperately. She caught  
sight of a pair of wings and a flash of blond hair.

"There she is!" Satella exclaimed. She brought her creature down to  
where she had seen Rosette. They stode on the balcony of an abandoned  
warehouse. A door slammed shut. Satella raced towards the direction of  
the sound. She pulled her gun out of it's holster and loaded it with  
Sacred Spirits. Azmaria did the same. Azmaria's gun wasn't as big as  
Satella's. She wasn't as skilled with a gun as Satella but Satella  
wasn't as good as Rosette. Rosette had her usual .45 colt on her as  
well as the ammunition the Elder gave them all.

Satella turned and pointed her gun into the dark room.

"Be careful Azmahria. This might be a tvrap" Satella said quietly.  
Azmaria nodded and hurried after Satella. The room got darker and  
darker. The girls' footsteps echoed off the walls. Azmaria covered  
behind Satella as she stopped.

"Vrosette!" Satella called into the building.

"Rosette!" Azmaria called. Her voice quivered. A door shut behind  
them. Lights flashed on temporarily blinding Satella and Azmaria. When  
their eyes refocused they saw a familiar figure standing in from of  
them smirking evilly.

"Vrosette!" Satella exclaimed.

"Ah. It's the younger jewel witch and the apostle!" Rosette said. Her  
voice was deeper than usual and her eyes were coal black.

"What have you done to Rosette!" Azmaria exclaimed.

"My my. The young apostle has gotten quite demanding. I guess we have  
our dear little Rosette to thank for that. Tell me now, what do you  
plan to do if Joshua refuses to give his horns to you. Would you just  
leave Chrono for dead or would you fight young Joshua. But oh! What if  
he got hurt! We can't let that happen can we?" Rosette said.

"Aion?" Satella asked.

"Finally! Someone got smart!" Rosette said. Aion jumped down from the  
rafters and stode beside Rosette unharmed.

"You murderer! Y...you monster!" Satella screamed.

"Such strong words coming from someone who's no better. Your both  
murderers and monsters!" Aion said.

"I am nothing like you!" Satella spat.

"Satella, Azmaria, why couldn't you protect me?" Rosette said. Tears  
rolled down Rosettes pale face. "Why did you sleep in late? You could  
have saved Chrono! You could have prevented everything!"

"Lies! Stop making her speak Aion!" Satella screamed. Azmaria was  
sobbing into her hands.

"Azmaria, you hurt everyone you touch. Because of you, your parents  
are dead, your chorus is dead and it's only a matter of time before  
you kill Satella and I!" Rosette hissed.

"Your right! Anyone who gets to know me dies! It should have been me  
who died! It should have been me!" Azmaria sobbed.

"Don't listen to her Azmaria. They're lying!" Satella cried desperately.

"Did you know your sisters still alive?" Aion said. Satella gasped.  
"Yes, your beloved older sister is still living. I will give her back  
to you if you give me the apostle!"

"Never! You're a liar! I won't let you take Azmaria from me!" Satella  
shouted.

"No Satella. I'll go!" Azmaria cried.

"No Azmaria!" Satella said. She caught Azmaria's eyes. She saw a gun  
out of the corner of her eyes.

"Its something I have to do!" Azmaria said in a quiet voice. Aion  
laughed menacingly.

"Very noble of you Azmaria Hendric. Now come to me" Aion said.  
Azmaria took a few shaky steps forward. As Aion reached out to her  
Azmaria drew her gun and fired. It was only loaded with sacred  
spirits. Aion howling in pain and stumbled back a few steps. His skin  
rotted away and he disappeared into thin air. Rosettes eyes changed  
back to azure. She fainted onto the ground.

"What was that?" Satella exclaimed as she picked Rosette up.

"That wasn't Aion." Azmaria said. Satella looked at her confused.

"What?" Satella asked.

"Remember the day in Central Park when the barrier broke?" Azmaria  
asked.

"Of coarse. Aion tried to take you then too" Satella said.

"When Aion disappeared when he touched me Chrono said it wasn't the  
real Aion. It was a 'shadow'" Azmaria explained.

"Oh yes. I remember!" Satella said. Her eyes saddened thinking of the  
small demon.

"Satella" Azmaria said.

"Yes Azmaria?" Satella asked.

"Do you still hate all demons?"

"No Azmaria. Not anymore" Satella said with a smile.

"Common. Let's go to San Francisco!" Azmaria said. The pair walked  
back out of the warehouse.

"Yeah. Maybe Rosette won't wake up until we get there. Then we won't  
have to listen to her anymore!" Satella said smiling. Azmaria giggled.  
Satella sat Rosette on the ground. She touched her fingers to her jewel.

"Laden!" Satella exclaimed. She spun her arms in a circle around  
herself. Her jewel monster took its shape in front of them. Satella  
hoisted Rosette up and helped Azmaria up. They hurried and flew to San  
Francisco.

"Its late so we'll spend the night at my villa and then get on our way  
to the beach house tomorrow" Satella said.

"Hai!" Azmaria said. They were surprised to see Steiner, Satella's  
faithful butler, waiting for them outside Satella's huge villa.

"Good evening Miss Satella. I see we have some guests." he said.

"Yes. Prepare two of the guest's rooms!" Satella said.

"Yes Miss Satella. May I ask where Mr. Chrono is? He usually always  
accompanies Miss Christopher and Miss Harvenheit" Steiner asked.

"Chrono is staying in New York for a while" Satella said flashing him  
a I'll-tell-you-later look. Steiner nodded and took Rosette from  
Satella. Azmaria followed him to her room. Satella sighed and went to  
her large living room. She found herself remembering last time the  
gang had visited.

Last time Chrono had been with them but had somehow come down with a  
fever. Satella and Rosette had spent most of the day asking if  
pharmacists had medicine strong enough to "work on a devil." Rosette  
was kicked out of numerous places and was laughed at countless times.  
No matter how many times people laughed in her face or kicked her onto  
her butt she picked herself up, dusted herself off and charged forward  
again. Satella knew she often appeared annoyed or angry at the thick  
headed nun but she knew she was envious of the young girl. Satella  
wished she had that much strength and determination.

Satella's thoughts drifted to little Azmaria. Azmaria had gotten so  
much stronger. She really was becoming like Rosette. She still had a  
long road in front of her but she was heading down the right path.  
Last time Azmaria had wanted to help take care of Chrono and Rosette  
when they went down with a fever. She had destroyed several of  
Satella's cooking utensils but she had succeeded in making a delicious  
dinner. Satella's thoughts drifted again.

Chrono was the only demon she had come to trust. She remembered when  
she first met him. She had thought he was the demon who had killed her  
family. It took her a little for her to realize it hadn't been him. He  
had even saved her at the park when a strong demon had rose and  
attacked them. He hadn't been strong. As soon as things got tough he  
relied on Rosettes strength to get through. Satella sighed. He had  
finally became strong and had been punished for it. Why is it that the  
good people always get screwed. Aion should have paid a long time ago  
but instead he had been able to hurt Satella, Rosette, Azmaria, Chrono  
and countless other people. Satella's hands balled into fists would get the horns for Chrono. She would rescue him so he could help her rescue her  
sister and Joshua and she would destroy Aion. He had to pay for all his evil deeds. Satella sighed knowing they couldn't do much without Chrono. Aion was too strong for them. Satella wasn't sure if she trusted Elders weapons. She sighed. _Yes…that's what I'll do._

_I will not die, I'll wait here for you_

_I feel alive, when you're beside me_

_I will not die, I'll wait here for you_

_In my time of dying_

Lyrics to Time of Dying by Three Days Grace.

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Wow…My last chapter had two songs of Evanescence and now this chapter has two songs of Three Days Grace. I didn't even know I liked Three Days Grace. Even on a day with no school I learned something. AHH! **GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!** _Shut up!_ Ok I'm going away now…please review… Goes off to listen to loud music and blow ear drums out. (I would have stars but for some reason that doesn't work for me.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Darkest Knight. Ch. 5**

**A/N: **This is my last chapter. Please enjoy the chapter.

**Disclaimer: **Hikari does not own Chrono Crusade or any of its characters.

_Why are you here, are you listening?_

_Can you hear what I am saying?_

_I am not here, I'm not listening_

_I'm in my head and I'm spinning_

Lyrics to Fallen by 30 Seconds to Mars

"Master Aion?" Fiore asked as she walked into the lab at Eden.

"What is it Fiore?" the tall man asked.

"Master Joshua had another fit, Sir. He keeps asking for his big  
sister. I'm afraid I'm not enough" the young girl in the maids outfit  
said.

"Tell Joshua that his big sister will be here soon." Aion said. He  
pushed his glasses higher up on his tan face.

"Yes Master Aion. Thank you Master Aion" Fiore said. She dipped her  
head submissively to Aion who dismissed her. She hurried out to go to  
Joshua.

"Yes. Sister Rosette Christopher is on her way. I do wonder how this  
will play out!" Aion said with an evil grin.

Back To Satella's Villa.

Rosette woke up before dinner. The smell of the soup Azmaria made  
drifted through the hallways and into Rosette room. Rosettes eyes lit  
up and her tongue hung from her mouth.

"Fooooddd!" she moaned. She sprung from her bed and raced to the door.  
The door flung open and smacked Rosette in the head.

"Vrosette!" Satella called. She saw the empty bed. "Vrosette?"

"Ugh!" Rosette moaned from the floor.

"Vrosette! Get off the floor! You're getting your filth on it!" Satella  
exclaimed. Rosette jumped up as a new wave of Azmaria's soup drifted  
in. She shoved past Satella and charged into the dinning room. She  
nearly fainted at the sight of all the food on the table. Not only was  
the soup there but there was cake, steak, and a bowl full of fruits.  
Azmaria walked in carrying a tray full of drinks.

"Oh Rosette! Your up!" she exclaimed joyfully. "Sit down and eat!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Rosette exclaimed. Rosette nearly  
knocked the chair over as she sat down. She piled the food in her  
plate. Satella and Azmaria sat down and spooned some food into their  
plates. Rosette shoved the food in her mouth.

"Honestly Vrosette! You have the worst table manners ever! I thought  
you were just really hungry the day at the park but that's just how  
you always eat!" Satella exclaimed. Rosette mumbled something.

"Vat?" Satella snapped. Rosette swallowed the food into her mouth.

"When can we get going?" Rosette asked.

"Tomorrow morning we'll go" Satella said.

"Tomorrow! Let's go now!" Rosette exclaimed.

"Are you nuts? It's dark outside. It would be suicide!" Satella  
exclaimed.

"It's dark?" Rosette asked.

"YES!" Satella yelled.

"Oh. I thought we were having breakfast!" Rosette said. Satella  
slapped her forehead with her palm.

"Lets change the subject to something that's intelligent!" Satella  
said. Rosette glared daggers at her.

"We need to come up with a battle plan. The house should be empty or  
we would have heard if it wasn't. Eden however will be crawling with  
demons. The other four sinners plus Joshua and your sister. Since we saw  
Aion yesterday then that means that they are expecting us. They might have a trap" Rosette said.

"Why do we need a battle plan? All we're doing now is getting Joshua's  
horns for Chrono. We can't kill the sinners without him." Satella said.

"You say that now but you won't be able to leave Florette there when you  
see her tomorrow. That's why we need a plan. We could end this now!"  
Rosette said.

"Thats impossible. We can't defeat Aion! Nothing can kill him accept  
Chrono!" Satella exclaimed. Rosette grabbed the pocket watch hanging on  
her neck.

"We have the bullets the Elder gave us! Why risk Chronos life when we  
can do this ourselves!" Rosette said. She sighed then added gently,  
"Think of how nice of a surprise it would be for Chrono to wake up and  
to find out everyone is safe, he no longer is sucking my life, and  
that the Sinners are dead!"

Satella was silent.

"We'll go there tomorrow. Shoot the three Sinners with gospels and  
Aion with the new bullet. We'll get Chronos horns and rescue Joshua  
and your sister then go home" Rosette said.

"Ok! I can't wait! Soon everything will be back to normal!" Azmaria  
exclaimed. Rosette just nodded. Satella eyed Rosette who was actually  
eating her food like a normal person. Satella shrugged it off and  
finished eating.

After Dinner.

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed" Rosette said.

"Good night Rosette!" Azmaria said cheerfully. Satella looked at  
Rosette who had been unusually quiet.

"Gute Nacht" Satella said. Rosette waved and went up to her room.

"Um...Miss Satella, I'm tired too so Im going to go to bed too"  
Azmaria said.

"Ok. Good night Azmaria. Thank you for the delicious dinner" Satella  
said.

"Oh your very welcome! Thank you for letting us spend the night!"  
Azmaria exclaimed.

"Your welcome Mein Liebchen" Satella said. Azmaria went to bed.

"Steiner can you make me a cup of tea?" Satella asked.

"Of coarse Miss Satella" Steiner said dipping his head. Satella sighed  
and read the newspaper and read the title. 'Demons Taking Over San  
Francisco?' Satella put the paper down with a sigh. What has the world  
come to? What has Satella become? A few months ago she despised all  
demons. Now she was helping a couple of Sisters save a demon. That  
wasn't her only reason why. She was searching for her sister that  
kidnapped by a hornless demon. Satella clenched her teeth. If only  
Chrono had destroyed Aion before he killed her family. She sighed. She  
couldn't blame the little demon. Chrono had risked his life to save a  
lot of people. He had rescued the two boys in the park from the demon,  
he had saved Rosette and Azmaria many times and he had saved Satella a  
few times.

Steiner handed Satella her cup of tea.

"Danke" Satella said. Steiner nodded and left the room. Satella  
quietly sipped her tea. She took the empty cup to Steiner in the  
kitchen.

"Lovely cup of tea. Thank you Steiner." Satella said.

"Your quite welcome Miss Satella." Steiner said.

"Good night!" Satella said with a yawn.

"Good night Miss" Steiner said. Satella went to her room and changed  
into her night clothes. She crawled into bed and pulled the covers up  
to her chin. As soon as she closed her eyes she was out.

She dreamed of how things used to be before Aion. She jolted up in bed  
at Azmaria's scream. Satella ran out into the hallway and collided with  
the apostle.

"Azmahria! Vhats wrong?"Satella asked.

"Rosettes gone!" Azmaria cried.

_Stay in shadow_

_I'll run this world out_

_Stay in shadow_

_It's running out of time_

_Stay in shadow_

_I want to watch it drown_

_Stay in this now  
_

_Don't say because you can't_

_Say what we should have been _

_Don't show what I resent_

_Don't know cause I forget_

__

So cruel to be so blind 

_Darkness was on my side_

_Now that you've come and gone_

_I know where I belong_

Lyrics to Stay in Shadow by Finger Eleven

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter. That's it for now. Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

**Darkest Knight. Ch. 6**

**A/N:** Hello jello! Lol XD Sorry. Again, I don't have much to say other than hi! How was your day? Is everything going good? Ok! Enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer: **Hikari does not own Chrono Crusade or any of its characters.

_Memories consume_

_Like opening the wound_

_I'm picking me apart again_

_You all assume_

_I'm safe here in my room_

_Unless I try to start again  
_

_I don't want to be the one_

_The battles always choose_

_'Cause inside I realize_

_That I'm the one confused_

Lyrics to Breaking the Habit by Linkin Park

"Vat?" Satella exclaimed.

"Rosettes gone! Her bed was empty and she left this note!" Azmaria  
exclaimed. The young girl had crystal tears glistening in her pale red  
eyes.

"May I see zeh note?" Satella asked gently. Azmaria nodded with a  
sniff. Azmaria handed Satella a small piece of paper with Rosette  
erratic handwriting scrawled over it.

"It'd ve easier to tvry to read Greek or somesing!" Satella said  
trying to cheer Azmaria up. Satella turned her focus to the chicken  
scratch on the paper.

_Dear Azmaria and Satella, _

_Do not worry about me. I went on ahead to Eden. I took your car. I'm  
sure that won't be a problem since you have so many! Anyway, I'll  
catch up with you soon. I just can't wait any longer._

Your friend Rosette,

Ps: I also stole some of your food.  


"Ah that girl! She's so impulsive!" Satella exclaimed.

"What are we going to do?" Azmaria asked.

"We're going to go after her! She couldn't have gotten to far! She  
probably crashed the car down the street!" Satella said.

"I'll get out things!" Azmaria exclaimed. She ran off to get their  
guns. She noticed that Rosettes was gone.

At least Rosette remembered to grab  
her things.

"Azmahria! Come here!" Satella cried. Azmaria quickly grabbed their  
weapons before running to Satella.

"What is it?" she asked. Satella turned up her radio. A mans voice  
cracked through the speaker.

"New York city is in chaos as demons destroy anything in their path.  
The death tole is an estimated five thousand but is expected to rise.  
Where is New York's demons fighters. The Magdalene Order has it's own  
problems as they try to deal with the demons at the convent. What  
could have caused this horrible event? Some say that it is Gods  
warning of the end of the world." the man said. Satella turned off the  
radio. She looked at Azmaria, who was crying.

"Those poor people. All those poor people. What will we do?" she sobbed.

"We need to meet up with Rosette. If we retrieve Chronos horns he can  
help!" Satella said.

"Let's go then!" Azmaria exclaimed. Satella smiled and led Azmaria to  
the car. Turning the car on, Satella drove towards the Sinners beach  
house.

To the NYC Magdalene Order Branch  


"Shader! What's taking you so long in there?" The Elder exclaimed as  
he pounded on Shader's(Rosettes) room. The door creaked open. The Elder  
peered inside. The room was empty. The Elder shrugged and walked back  
to his hut. The sirens went off. Its annoying ring echoed loudly.  
Members of the militia ran outside and sprinted towards the morg led  
by Father Remington. The Elder hurried as fast as his old legs could  
carry him to Father Remington.

"What's going on?" the Elder demanded.

"Something's happened at the morg. We believe it may be Shader"  
Remington said. The two men ran over to the morgs door where the  
militia had circled it. Remington and the Elder pushed towards the  
front.

Shader stode by the door clutching Chronos limp form.

"Shader! What are you doing? Put Chrono down immediately!" Father  
Remington demanded. He looked in disgust as Shader hissed at him and  
lashed her tail at him.

"Don't lash your tail at me Missy! I don't think I've heard an answer  
yet!" the Elder exclaimed.

"Foolish humans! Your to quick to trust people! I never wanted to help  
you. You and the Ignorable One are so easy to fool" she spat.

"Prepare to use Gospel!" Father Remington exclaimed. The Elder put him  
hand on Remington's shoulder.

"You'll hit Chrono" he said. Remington nodded.

"Use Sacred Spirits instead!" Remington commanded. Shader grinned.

"Fools! You can't kill me with that!" she hissed. Her eyes turned into  
a shade of red, a little more vibrant then Chronos eyes.

"Come forth my brothers!" Shader growled. The ground quaked beneath  
the Magdalene Order. A large crack divided the militia from Shader. A  
dark reddish-black miasma began to rise from the crack.

"Stand back! The miasma can kill you!" Remington ordered taking a few  
steps back. Shader chuckled but it wasn't at all pleasant. Demons rose  
from the miasma to stand in front of the militia. Sharp fangs and long  
claws glistened. Remington shuttered feeling their desire to rip them  
to shreds.

"Use Sacred Spirits now! Fire!" Remington's voice rang into the air.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

The demons howled in pain. A few collapsed, their black ash floating  
to the air. Others shot into the air or lashed at the militia.

"We need back up!" Remington exclaimed. The Elder stumbled back. He  
looked from the army of demons to Shader, who was still clutching  
Chronos form. She smirked and waved bye to the Elder before she  
disappeared with Chrono. The Elder shouted.

"Shader got Chrono!" he yelled. Remington's eyes narrowed.

"She tricked us all. We must keep fighting though." he said. He turned  
to a couple of girls. "Set up the barrier stat!"

"Yes sir!" the girls said. They ran off to set up the barrier. In a  
few minutes a holy white light consumed the demons and the militia.  
The demons screeched in pain. Some disintegrated. A few of the  
stronger ones continued to fight.

"Use Gospels!" Remington said. The loud bang of Gospels echoed in the  
air. The last of the demons faded. Everyone breathed heavily. A few  
were helping the injured up. A loud roar sounded through the air as  
many high leveled demons rose from the crack in the Earth. More  
bullets were shot through the air trying to keep back the demons. It  
seemed as if another would show up just as one would be killed.  
Remington desperately tried to keep up with orders but the Magdalene  
Order was over run with demons.

Meanwhile, Sister Kate was busy with phone calls from people wanting  
the militia.

"It seems as if the entire city is over run with demons. Could this  
truly be our Lords way of warning us of Worlds End. Could this have  
something to do with Aion. Why would Shader lie and 'kidnap' Chrono.

"I just hope everything is ok with Rosette" the head nun sighed.

To Eden

"Aion!" Shader's sing songy voice echoed through the empty room in Eden.

"Ah. Welcome back Shader. Was everything successful?" Aion asked in  
his smooth voice.

"Hai!" Shader said. She dropped Chronos limp form on the floor with a  
soft thud.

"Finally" Aion said in his icy smooth voice. "This should be quite  
interesting, shouldn't it Chrono? Maybe now you'll remember our dream.  
To be honest Shader I didn't know you had it in you."

Shader laughed. She twitched her tail and flicked her ears. "You don't  
know me, do you?" she laughed.

Aion snorted and ignored her. "Go get everything ready. Our guests  
should be here shortly" Aion commanded.

"Hai hai!" Shader exclaimed cheerfully. Shader scampered off. Aion  
laughed evilly and his glasses up.

"Yes, everything will go down as planned tonight" Aion hissed to  
himself. He rose and headed out of the room.

_I should have seen those signs all around me_

_But I was comfortable inside these wounds_

_So go ahead and take another piece of me, now_

_While we all bow down to you_

__

You tear me down 

_And then you pick me up_

_You take it all _

_And still it's not enough_

_You try to tell me _

_You can heal me_

_But I'm still bleeding _

_And you'll be the death of me_

Lyrics to Death of Me by Red 

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll try to update soon! I know people are reading this so please review!


	7. Chapter 7

**Darkest Knight. Ch. 7**

**A/N:** Next chapters up! Ok people! I know you guys are reading this!  
Please review; I like all of 'em including mean ones. I have it set to  
allow anonymous reviews! If you want me to be I will! LOL. Enjoy this  
next chapter :)

**Disclaimer: **Hikari does not own Chrono Crusade or any of its characters. They belong to Daisuke Moriyama-sama (Haha. It rhymes)

…

_Existing in this place now are uncleanable lies_

_I wonder when it has begun_

_How far do_

_I have to go to see the light?_

__

Stars in your eyes

_Stars in your heart  
_

_You will live in shadow_

_of shade and commit eighth sin_

_Unrequited existence will turn_

_Everything into sin_

Lyrics to Xepher by Tatsh

Rosette sped through the busy city streets of San Francisco. The nun  
gritted her teeth and pushed the Jewel Witch's car faster. She veered  
sharply to the side, narrowly missing another car in her rampage.

"Move out of the way you jerk!" Rosette screamed out the window.  
Rosette shoved another muffin in her mouth. It was her third one for  
that day. The blond veered off onto another road as Rosette fumbled with the  
map that the Order had given her. She looked up and smiled. The beach  
was just visible over the hill. Everything was going smoothly so far. She looked in the back to make sure her weapons weren't thrown out of the car.

After four years of searching she would finally rescue her brother. She hadn't seen her brother since four years earlier at the orphanage when Aion had taken him away from her. Everything was within reach; Joshua, Chronos horns, her old life back.

Rosettes thoughts drifted to her demon friend. She couldn't wait to  
see him again. She felt strangely hollow without him by her side. Even  
though he was quiet most of the time or said idiotic things he was still her best friend, demon or not. Who ever knew someone as quiet as him could support someone  
so much? Chrono had risked his life for her countless times. Rosette wanted to do the same for him.

A chugging noise interrupted her thoughts. The car slowed to a stop  
with a puff of smock of protest.

"No! Don't die now!" Rosette exclaimed. Her head hit the wheel with a  
grunt. She took her anger off on her door by kicking it off its hinges.

"Stupid, no good, piece of crap door!" Rosette grumbled. Slinging the  
weapon bag over her shoulder and leaving the map, Rosette set out  
towards the beach house that was just in sight.

By the time Rosette reached the beach house she was panting like a  
dog. It had been a short distance to walk but the jacket she was wearing and the bag she was carrying slowed her down. She set her bag down in the sand and looked at the house.

"So this is where Joshua lived?" she said to herself. The house was  
fairly big and white. It faced the beach. Rosette could imagine Joshua  
sitting on the porch watching the wave's crash against the sand creating  
white foam. A gentle salty breeze ruffling his blond locks revealing his cyan eyes. Rosette smiled affectionately. She took the time to put on her holster and insert her Colt.  
45 into its holster. She packed a few Sacred Spirits, and Gospels. She made sure to pack the Elders new bullet. She straightened up, balling her hands into determined  
fists.

"I'm coming Joshua!" she said.

Satella and Azmaria jumped in the car. Satella drove towards the beach.

"Satella?" Azmaria asked timidly.

"Yes?" Satella asked.

"Do you know where we're going?" the young girl asked.

"To the beach. Rosette has the directions but how hard is it to find a  
house on the beach?" Satella said.

"Uh huh...yeah!" Azmaria said hesitantly.

And thus began Satella's and Azmaria's long search.

"Everyone fall back! The Elder is going to use his new weapon!"  
Remington exclaimed. Nuns fled past him as he charged to help the  
injured out of the field. As soon everyone was out of range the Elder  
set off his untested weapon.

All the demons screeched in agony and covered their ears in an attempt  
to block out the high pitched buzzing that was inauditable to humans.  
They slowly sank to their knees one by one.

The Elder chucked a sphere into the center of the demons. He laughed deviously as he activated the second part. A pale purple light shot out from the Elders device  
and consumed the demons in its luminous light. The demons skin seemed to bubble as if they were covered in acid. They screeched again and collapsed into a heap with a cloud of black dust that disappeared into the dark sky.

"It works!" the Elder shouted. He de-activated the disk. The purple  
light ceased to emanate from the disk. It faded into the air. The  
Elder bounded over. The nuns raised their eyes. They had never seen  
the old man with this much energy unless it evolved women.

"Well done Edward" Remington said. _(AN: The Elders real name is Edward  
Hamilton)_

"Ha ha! Success! We can use this in the city! It shouldn't harm  
humans, it only harms things with demonic energy" the Elder said.

"Wonderful. Let's get going!" Remington said delighted. He turned to the  
militia and started barking out orders "Help the injured to the  
infirmary and then see the Elder and I to get one of the Elders  
inventions!"

"Yes sir!" the girls exclaimed.

Fiore walked through Eden. She heard Joshua's quiet whimpering from his  
room. Fiord hurried into the room and to his side. She gently rubbed  
his back. Joshua looked up at her, his deranged eyes watery with tears.  
He forced a pained smile to calm Fiore.

"Hi Fi" Joshua said.

"Lord Joshua..." Fiore said.

"I'm ok, Fi. I don't hear too many voices today." Joshua said flashing  
Fiore one of his creepy looking smile.

"You should rest, Lord Joshua" Fiore offered.

"I'm not sleepy. I want my big sister" Joshua whimpered.

"Your big sister will be here soon" Fiore said. Her eyes saddened.

"Oh good. I can't wait" Joshua said. He crawled into his bed and laid  
down. Fiore pulled the blanket up to his chin. Joshua snored softly. A  
gentle smile tugged at Flores lips.

"So much for not being sleepy, huh?" Fiore said. She picked up Joshua's  
dirty clothes and walked out of the room.

"I'm going to need you soon Fiore." Aion asked behind Fiore. "When the  
guests arrive"

"Yes Lord Aion" Fiore said dipping her head in submission.

"Good" Aion said as he walked away. Fiore sighed.

"It'll all be over soon. No one will get hurt after this" Fiore said  
trying to calm herself.

Rosette tripped as she climbed up the steps of the house.

"Applesauce!" Rosette exclaimed. She stode up and dusted herself off.  
She continued inside the vacant house.

She glanced around the empty house. The windows and doorways were  
boarded off by the Order. She kicked the boards down easily and looked for  
the basement. She spotted a door that was not boarded off. She tried the door and was surprised to see a flight of stairs leading down into a dark and seemingly empty room.

After tripping several times down the stairs, Rosette finally made it  
down to the basement. She searched through the empty room. She remembered hearing that there was legion disguising the portal. She headed towards the closest wall and rubbed her fingers gently across the smooth surface. She moved on to the one opposite of the stairs. She searched the wall spotting the legion  
fused to the wall. At her touch the walls legion started to break away revealing a  
gateway. Rosette smirked and stepped through.

The scenery blurred around her in confusion. She didn't know what she was seeing. Everything looked the same, gray and white. She thanked the Lord when everything slowed to a stop. She was a little dizzy and had a small  
headache by the time she reached Eden. She stode in between a huge  
stone opening. She looked around in amazement.

"Wow! Is this where Chrono used to live?" she asked herself. She tried to imagine Chrono walking through the exact same hallway she was standing in. She smiled thinking of her demon companion. She proceeded towards the doorway unsure of where to go. She looked for other pathways to other hallways but found none. She walked until the  
hallway opened up to the open sky. 

The area was open, revealing the surrounding Eden. The room looked like it could have been a garden but most of the plants were withering and dying.

"Wow!" she breathed looking down. She carefully walked over to the edge and gazed  
to look at the city and water below.

"It's even more stunning at night. To bad you won't see it" a mans  
voice sounded behind her. Rosette spun around and faced the tall  
silver haired male.

"Aion!" she growled in pure hatred.

"Rosette Christopher, my my. You've grown up a lot since I last saw  
you" Aion said in mock friendliness.

"Where's Joshua?" Rosette demanded not wanting to waste any time.

"Ha! Like I would tell you" Aion smirked.

"What do you want Aion?" Rosette said.

"I have everything I want; Pandemonium's head, Joshua oh and I almost  
forgot, Chrono!" Aion taunted. He bent down to pick something up from  
the shadows. He revealed Chrono hanging limply from his arm. Aion  
dropped him to the floor in front of him.

"What did you do to them?" Rosette demanded.

"Do you always ask this many questions?" Aion asked. Rosette scowled  
at Aion. If only looks could kill. Rosette whipped the gun loaded with  
the Elders new bullet out of her pocket. "Are you going to shoot?"  
Aion asked.

Rosettes arm began to tremble slightly.

"Then you'd never find out where your precious brother is." Aion said.  
Rosette winced and lowered her gun.

"Good girl but you know what? I lied! You do have something I want! I  
will give you Chrono and Joshua's horns in an exchange" Aion said with  
a grin.

"Hey Satella! I see something!" Azmaria exclaimed.

"Where?" Satella asked eagerly. She had been searching for the beach  
house for what seems like hours. They had completely missed Rosettes  
car that broke down by the exit.

"Over there!" Azmaria said pointing towards the horizon. Satella had  
to squint her eyes to see a white house.

"Good eyesight Azmaria! Let's go!" Satella said. She stomped her foot  
down on the gas. The car sped towards the house. Within minutes they  
were parked outside the house.

"I wonder if Rosette was here yet." Azmaria pondered.

"We'll see soon enough" Satella said. She reached in the back and  
tossed the pack to Azmaria. Satella put the holster on and slipped the  
Elders new bullet in the gun and inserted the gun in the case. Satella  
helped Azmaria put all the different bullets in.

"Aren't you going to take some Gospels or Sacred Spirits?" Azmaria asked.

"Naw. I have my jewels" Satella stated holding up a scarlet colored jewel.  
Azmaria nodded.

"Let's find Rosette" Satella said with a smile. She walked to the steps.

"Satella look!" Azmaria exclaimed holding up a small chunk of a muffin.

"Well, Rosette was here" Satella said rolling her eyes. Azmaria  
grinned and hurried inside.

"Wait up!" Satella exclaimed. She jogged after the young girl.

"Look!" Azmaria said pointing to broken boards that lay around door frames.

"Rosette left a trail" Satella grumbled. They followed the trail of  
broken boards to the basement door. Satella looked down into the dim room.

"More muffin pieces!" Azmaria exclaimed pointing at the stairs.

"We must be close!" Satella said. The gateways legion had not reformed causing Satella and Azmaria to notice it right away. Satella followed Azmaria through the  
gateway. After reaching Eden, they went under the stone openings to outside where Rosette was. Azmaria spotted Rosette standing in the garden seemingly alone. She ran towards Rosette.

"Rosette!" Azmaria exclaimed. She hugged the  
blond.

"Hey Azmaria." Rosette said. Satella smiled and strode toward Rosette. She caught a glint in the shadows behind Rosette and Azmaria. She heard a noise behind her and turned to face the scorce when a hand came down on  
her neck causing her to drop to the floor in an unconscious heap. Behind  
Satella stode Genai. Azmaria screamed.

"SATELLA!" she cried. She felt Rosette hand grab her arm in a tight  
grip. She looked up at her confused. Rosettes blond locks covered her  
face.

"Rosette?" she asked timidly.

"Here Aion. you can take her. Just give Chrono to me first" Rosette  
said to the shadows. The tall demon stepped out of the darkness into  
view. Azmaria gasped and tried to hide behind Rosette.

"Rosette! What's going on?" Azmaria asked fearfully.

"Shut up!" Rosette said desperately. Aion laughed coldly.

"Heres Chrono..." Aion grinned. He picked up Chronos limp form that  
had been hidden from the darkness and held him in the light. He  
dropped him on the hard floor. Rosette cringed hearing the soft thud.  
"But you need to get Joshua's horns. Give me the apostle and I'll have  
Genai show you to his room. He will make sure you get the horns and  
leave Joshua with us" Aion said.

"Rosette! Y...you...your giving me to A...Aion?" Azmaria asked her  
voice quivering of hurt. Rosette looked away and ignored her.

"Ok. You better hold up your part of the deal or I'll blow your brains  
out" Rosette growled.

"Oh, temper temper!" Aion laughed. He walked over and took Azmaria from  
Rosette. Azmaria whimpered in fright.

"Rosette!" she yelled. Aion laughed icily as he took the protesting  
girl away. Rosette turned away from her screaming and tried to block it out. Genai stalked over to Rosette unhappily.

"Follow me!" he grumbled. Rosette glanced towards Chrono then Satella  
lying on the floor. "We'll come back for them later" he growled.  
Rosette nodded. Genai growled and stalked towards a hallway. Rosette  
hurried after the Sinner. She eventually came to a door. A female maid walked  
up to the door. She had light black hair that hung down to her chin.

"Lord Joshua is sleeping now" the maid said in a monotone voice.

"Shut up Fiore! You were too wrapped up in your precious Joshua to be  
there for the exchange!" Genai growled. Fiore nodded sadly.

"Yes Master Genai" she said. She brushed past Rosette and disappeared down the hallway. Genai opened the door and ushered Rosette in. Rosettes breath caught in her throat seeing Joshua sleeping in his bed. Tears formed in her eyes.

"Joshua" she whispered.

"Hurry up and get the horns" Genai said shoving Rosette towards the  
bed. Rosette crept quietly to his bed side. She smiled seeing his  
peaceful face.

"Hurry up!" Genai repeated. Rosette took a deep breath. She lay her  
hands on the ivory colored horns sprouting from her brothers temples.  
She closed her eyes as she tightened her grip.

"This is for you…Chrono"  
Rosette said to herself. She took a breath before pulling with all her  
might. The horns snapped off Joshua's head with a sickening crack.  
Joshua began screaming. He clutched his head and screamed. Blood  
seeped through his hands.

"FIORE!" he screamed. He was blinded by his pain to notice Rosette.  
Rosettes heart broke hearing him call for Fiore and not her. She reached out to  
touch his hand when Genai hurried to her and shoved her out of the  
room. Shutting the door to let Joshua scream on his own, Genai  
continued to shove Rosette towards the open room where Chrono and  
Satella lay. Rosette took one last look towards Joshua's room to see Fiore entering. Jealously flash through her. Genai threw Chrono over one shoulder and Satella over the other. Rosette followed behind him. Her eyes were bleak. She had  
caused Joshua to scream like that. She couldn't protect Azmaria or  
Joshua. At least she would be able to rescue Chrono. Soon  
Genai turned to her.

"Hey! Are you listening!" Genai yelled.

"Huh? What?" Rosette asked confused.

"I said it's time to go back to your world." Genai growled.

"Oh. Thanks" Rosette said still lost in her own thoughts. She looked  
at Chronos limp form then the horns in her hand. If she had  
Chrono he could get Azmaria back and Rosette could explain everything  
to the young apostle. Rosette never realized how much the small demon supported her.

Genai set Chrono and Satella on the ground and  
curtly disappeared down the hallway without another word. Rosette  
slipped the horns in her gun holster. She took Chronos arm and tried  
to pick him up.

"Ugh! When did you get so heavy?" Rosette grunted. She set Chrono down  
gently and kicked Satella's buttock.

"Satella, wake up!" Rosette whined. With a moan Satella's eyes blinked  
open.

"Vat? Vosette? Is vat you?" Satella said drowsily.

"Yes get up! I need you to carry Chrono!" Rosette exclaimed.

"Vheres Azmahria?" Satella asked as she rose to her feet. Rosette bit  
her bottom lip wondering how much she should say.

"It's a long story" Rosette said simply.

"Ok" Satella said. Rosette sighed inwardly in relief. Satella picked  
up the small demon as if he were as light as a feather.

"Are you ok, Satella?" Rosette asked noting the distant look in  
Satella's eyes.

"Ja! I'm fine" Satella said. Rosette decided not to press her. She led  
Satella through the portal deciding that Satella probably wouldn't  
remember where to go.

The scenery blurred into colors of gray, white and cream. Rosette waited patiently for the vortex to stop spinning. She kept a steady hand on Satella for she was swaying. Soon everything stopped spinning and returned to normal.

Rosette recognized the basement. Satella stumbled forward a few steps  
before regaining her footing. How Satella ever did all she did in  
those heels Rosette would never know.

"My car broke down on the road" Rosette said.

"Car?" Satella asked. Rosette rolled her eyes.

"Put Chrono down!" Rosette ordered. Satella set Chrono down. Wow,  
Satella listened to Rosette. She must really be confused. She jumped behind the red head and grinded her fists into the side of Satella's skull.

"What the-!" Satella exclaimed jumping away from the blond. "What the heck was that for you idiot!"

"Your welcome!" Rosette hissed as she began to climb the stairs curtly.

"Ugh! Stupid girl!" Satella growled. She picked Chrono back up and  
turned to the stairs. She hung her head with a sigh. "So many stairs!"

Rosette bit her lip to keep from laughing at the older girl. Satella's  
heels clicked and clacked against the wooden stairs. Rosette stayed behind the German incase she fell back. She didn't want Chrono to hit his head. (Haha. Anyone get what I'm saying? Lol) By the time she reached the top the German woman was panting.

"Why don't you carry Chrono? He's your contractor!" Satella puffed.

"He's too heavy" Rosette said quickening her pace. She grinned, enjoying torturing the German woman. It took her mind off of all the bad things.

"He carried you. Why don't you ever treat him as nicely as he treats  
you! You always order him around and use him and give him nuggies"  
Satella said.

Rosette stopped walking. Satella almost regretted saying those things.  
She had struck a cord and she knew it. Rosette hung her head. Her bangs covered her  
ocean blue eyes.

"You don't know anything" Rosette growled. She hurried ahead again.  
She didn't have time to stop. She had to hurry and get Chrono to the  
Elder. She needed to get Azmaria back as well as Joshua and Fiore. Oh!  
That reminded Rosette of something.

"I saw your sister" Rosette said.

"You did! How is she?" Satella exclaimed her eyes brightened up.

"She seemed ok. She wasn't hurt or anything." Rosette  
explained.

"Florette..." Satella said sadly. Rosette felt bad for the German  
woman. She was almost guilty for picking on her. But she had deserved  
it hadn't she? Of course she had. She was always rude to Rosette and Chrono all  
because Chrono was a demon and Rosette made a contract with him.

"I'm sorry" Rosette said after a sigh. Satella and Rosette were  
similar in so many ways. Both were searching for their siblings that  
were captured by the same demon. Both girls were stubborn and hot headed but both also cared deeply for their friends.

Satella snorted, "I don't need your sympathy" she spat. Rosette  
shrugged knowing how she felt.

"Alright..." She said. "Stupid German" she whispered in auditable to  
Satella.

"The cars just outside" Satella said. Rosette stopped dead and spun to  
face Satella with her jaw hanging in shock.

"You did bring the car!" Rosette exclaimed.

"No duh idiot! How else would I get here?" Satella asked.

"You took so long I thought you walked!" Rosette spat back at the red  
head.

"I took so long since someone took the map!" Satella exclaimed. "What's  
your deal anyway? You left Joshua with the Sinners AND you betrayed  
Azmaria! How could you do that to the girl?" Satella spat. By that  
time the teens had reached the car. Satella set Chrono down gently in  
the back seat. "Pfft! His clothes are a mess. He can't wake up in such condition!"  
Satella mumbled. Rosette ignored her still thinking of what the red  
head had said earlier.

"I told you, I'll tell you later" she said, voice low. She got in the  
passenger seat. Satella raised her eyebrows. She had expected a big  
argument over who would drive or by what Satella had said. Satella must be missing a piece of the puzzle. She glanced at the blond. Rosettes golden bangs shadowed her eyes. She seemed content on staring at her lap.

"When exactly is later?" Satella asked.

"Later" Rosette growled. Satella sighed deciding it was best not to  
press her.

"Ok. That's fine. I'm always here when you want to talk!" Satella  
said. Rosette looked up astounded. Had Satella really just said what  
she thought she said? No she couldn't have. That was too nice and  
caring. Rosette must have heard her wrong. Satella turned the car up  
and drove to her villa.

Rosette stared blankly out the window. Satella gripped the steering  
wheel so hard that her knuckles turned ghostly white. The two woman  
sighed simultaneously.

"What's with you?" Rosette asked.

"Just looking at you. Will you just tell me what's going on? You keep  
staring out that window and to be honest, it's freaking me out" Satella said.

"Ok fine." Rosette said.

…

_"What did you do to them?" Rosette cried looking in horror as Aion  
dropped Chrono to the ground as if he were garbage._

"My you ask a lot of questions." Aion said. Rosette growled and  
whipped out her gun and aimed it at Aions silver haired head. He  
laughed icily. "Are you going to shoot? Then you'll never find your  
precious brother" Rosettes hand trembled. She slowly dropped her gun, head in defeat.

"I will give you Chrono and Joshua's horns" Aion said. Rosette looked  
up hopefully. What's the catch and why did he keep saying 'Joshua's horns'? They  
were Chronos horns. "In an exchange" Aion grinned.

"What is it?" Rosette asked skeptically. Doubt pricked at the back of  
her mind. Aion always had something up his sleeve.

"Azmaria Hendric!" he said flashing a toothy grin. Rosettes heart  
skipped a couple beats. She looked at the demon in front of her  
finding it hard to imagine he was Chronos brother and used to be his  
best friend.

"Absolutely not!" Rosette spat without thinking. Aion raised an eyebrow.

"Ok then. If that's how you feel" he said. He picked up Chrono by his  
arm and started to walk towards the shadow.

"Wait!" Rosette begged out of impulse. Aion stopped but didn't turn to  
face her. Rosette bit her lip. What was she going to do? She couldn't  
shoot Aion. She might hit Chrono and she didn't know what effect that  
would have on him. She also couldn't give Azmaria to the demon. Who  
knew what he could do with her. But if she got Chrono and his horns  
she could resurrect Chrono and he could help her get Azmaria back.  
That seemed like the best choice that she had.

"Ok. I'll give you Azmaria" Rosette said. 

"That monster!" Satella exclaimed "How dare he!" Satella exclaimed.

"Do you think Azmaria will understand?" Rosette asked quietly.

"Knowing Azmaria she will understand. Azmaria is the kind of  
person that will stick by you forever" Satella said.

"Thanks Satella. You know, you're not all that bad Satella" Rosette said  
turning to face the red head with a small smile. Satella snorted and  
flipped her hair.

"Of coarse not! You're just realizing that just now!" Satella exclaimed.

Rosette looked back out the window. Satella sighed. So much for that  
idea.

"Hey Rosette?" Satella inquired.

"Hmm?" Rosette asked not taking her gaze off the window.

"How about we go back to New York today. My jewel will be able to get  
us at the Order by dinner time" Satella said.

Rosette looked to Satella with a toothy grin.

"Yeah! Let's do it! Let's go now!" Rosette exclaimed.

"I need to go back to the villa first" Satella said with a chuckle.

"Aw! But whyyy?" Rosette whined. Satella sweatdropped, almost regretting she  
tried to cheer her up.

"Because!" Satella spat at her.

"Because why?" Rosette asked.

"Because I need to return the car and I need to tell Steiner" Satella  
shot at Rosette.

"Hmpf! Fine then!" Rosette poured. She crossed her arms across her  
chest with a moody look on her face. Satella groaned.

"Teenagers" Satella growled.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence. Satella pulled up to  
her large villa. She got out of the car and hurried to the back door.  
Scooping up Chrono in her arms, she headed for the front door of her villa.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Rosette exclaimed. She ran forward to catch up to  
the native German. Satella already had the door unlocked by the time  
Rosette caught up. Steiner came to meet them.

"Welcome back Ms. Christopher, Ms. Satella. I see your mission was a  
success" Steiner said glancing at Chrono in Satella's arms. "Where did  
Ms. Hendric go?"

"Don't ask" Satella said setting Chrono down on the couch and  
straightening her back.

"My apologies Miss." Steiner said dipping his head.

"Steiner, I will be heading back to New York shortly. I don't know  
when I should be back" Satella informed the elderly butler.

"Yes ma'am." Steiner said.

"Any news on the Order?" Satella asked quietly. Steiner nodded.

"People have gone into hiding but the demons have left. They still don't know what caused all the demons to come out and they don't know why they left so suddenly." Steiner informed her. Satella nodded and glanced at Rosette to make sure she didn't hear.

"Thank you Steiner. That is all" Satella dismissed him.

Satella and Rosette sat upon Satella's jewel creature and waved to  
Steiner below.

Rosette sat clutching Chrono with one arm. His head lay in her lap.  
His purple locks had came out of its braid. Scraps of his yellow  
ribbon were trapped in his messy hair. It lay spread around his tanned  
face and his closed eyes were covered by his violet locks. Despite the  
dry blood on his face and hands and his ripped clothing, he looked  
peaceful.

Steiner waved by. He slowly shrank until he disappeared as Satella headed  
towards New York. Rosette and Satella were mostly silent. Rosette  
fingered Chronos long purple mane. She eventually pulled a brush out  
of her bag and began to brush it. By the time it was done it was free  
of tangles and ribbon pieces. Rosette had braided it in a spare  
ribbon. Rosette had a bunch of ribbons on her. Chrono was constantly  
loosing and ripping them so Rosette got into the habit of carrying  
extras.

Satella was concerned about the blond nun. She was usually so  
energetic and talkative. Now, she was dull and silent. Satella  
wondered if maybe she was sick or something. She flew as quickly as  
possible to New York. Chrono was the cure for anything. In record time they reached the large city.

Both girls gasped. Buildings seemed abandoned and some had fallen  
over. The sky was gray from the ash. Bodies littered the ground.  
Satella covered her mouth, to shocked to say anything. She had heard  
New York had been attacked badly but she didn't know how bad the damage  
was. Rosette balled her hands into fists.

"Demons" Rosette growled. Satella's eyes darkened at the mention of the word.

"How did they all get here?" she inquired mostly to herself.

"The seal must have been broken or opened. Shader might know!" Satella  
said. Rosette just nodded.

Satella carried Chrono through the Orders gates. The yard and the  
convent was a mess. Blood stained the ground and a long jagged cut ran  
through the ground and underneath the convent. Rosette and Satella  
creped to the Elders hut.

Upon opening the door the Elder jumped and aimed a gun at them.

"Back demon!" he shouted.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Elder, it's me, Rosette!"  
Rosette exclaimed. The Elder looked visibly relieved.

"Oh Rosette, Satella! Thank God it's just you! I see you brought  
Chrono back" The Elder said.

"Yeah" Rosette said. Satella poked Rosettes shoulder and cleared her  
voice. Rosette pointed to Chronos room in the back. Satella hurried and  
put Chrono on the bed and returned to Rosette and the Elder.

"So what happened here?" Satella asked crossing her arms over her  
chest. The Elder sighed and sat down on his stool.

"Shader tricked us" he said rubbing his forehead.

"What!" Satella gasped.

"How could she do that? She is the nicest Sinner! I thought she  
liked Chrono" Rosette explained. Chrono had died to save Shader and she  
causes all this trouble. How could she!

"Yeah. She took Chrono and opened the seal to release all those  
demons. All those poor people in New York. We lost a lot of our  
militia as well. They all fought bravely for a long time. We were  
forced to use my untested weapon. Thank god it worked as I had hoped.  
It killed all the demons and it works in a large area so we could use  
it in the city. That also gave us a chance to close the seal." the  
Elder explained.

"The seal is closed? I didn't hear that on the radio at the house  
before we left." Satella said.

"That's because we didn't tell the press anything. They think we killed all the  
demons. Everyone is too afraid to come out of hiding in the sewers"  
The Elder said.

Satella and Rosette wrinkled their nose.

"So, when can we resurrect Chrono?" Rosette asked.

"I finished my invention. Shader even finished hers." The Elder said with a snort.

"You're going to trust it?" Rosette shouted.

"Sister Kate had requested that I observed her as she made it. It  
might work to bring him back but it will be safe to use" The Elder said.

"Hmm, strange." Satella said.

"So let's get to work old man!" Rosette exclaimed.

"Ok. I need to work in the basement of the convent so bring Chrono  
down. I'll be there as soon as I can. I need to bring a few things  
down and I need to inform Father Remington and Sister Kate" The Elder  
said.

"Ok! Common Satella!" Rosette said dragging Satella towards Chronos  
room. The Elder chuckled and grabbed his tools. He left his hut and  
hurried to Sister Kate's office.

Satella scooped Chrono up. Rosette led her to the basement. It took  
them a while to get down.

"Cant you go any faster?" Rosette yelled impatiently. She stopped to  
wait up for Satella, again.

"Do you want to carry him instead?" Satella retorted. Rosette snorted  
and continued walking.

"Nope. Take your time" Rosette growled.

"What's that suppost to mean?" Satella snapped.

"What?" Rosette snapped back.

"'take your time?'" Satella said imitating Rosettes voice.

"Exactly that, 'Take your time'!" Rosette said, her words laced in  
mockery.

"Yeah right! What's it really mean?" Satella said. She sighed in  
relief as she reached the basement door. She never took her eyes off  
Rosette. Rosette opened the door and stepped inside. Satella hurried  
in. Rosette gasped.

"What is that?" she breathed. On the wall sat a huge wooden cross with  
a bunch of tubes, wires, and other things the two girls hadn't seen  
before built into the wall.

"That..." Father Remington said gravely from the corner. Beside him stode Sister Kate and the Elder. "Will transfer Chronos soul back into his body and will restore his astral"

…

_Behind those eyes lies the truth and grief_

_Behind those beautiful smiles I've seen tragedy_

_The flawless skin hides the secrets within_

_Silent forces that secretly ignite your sins_

__

Fly away, fly away

_From the torch of blame_

_They hunt you_

_The Lucifer's Angel_

_Never lived, you never died_

_Your life has been denied_

_They call you_

_Lucifer's Angel_

Lyrics to Lucifer's Angel by The Rasmus

… 

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll try to update soon! I know people are reading this so please review! Arigato!


	8. Chapter 8

**Darkest Knight. Chapter 8**

**AN:** Hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm on my knees now begging you to review! I really enjoy writing this and I LOVED writing this chapter. Please review please!

_Rosette:_ Review or face the fury of my Gospels!

_Chrono:_ -_- Ugh…

_HKA (ME ):_ Hey! What's Chrono doing here?

_Aion:_ That's a good question.

_HKA:_ AHH! What are you doing here *Shots Aion with gospels*

_Aion:_ Ma! I don't need this from you! *Poofs*

_Rosette:_ Yeah you better run away!

_**Joshua:**_** Hikari does not own Chrono Crusade or any of its characters.**

_**Satella:**_** Hikari also does not own the songs Somewhere I Belong or Azmaria no Uta**

_Azmaria:_ Hey my names in there! *Starts singing Azmaria no Uta*

_Aion:_ Your mine *Takes Azmaria and disappears*

_Rosette:_ Bah! REVIEW!

_(When this began)_

_I had nothing to say_

_And I get lost in the nothingness inside of me_

_(I was confused)_

_And I let it all out to find_

_That I'm not the only person with these things in mind_

_(Inside of me)_

_But all that they can see the words revealed_

_Is the only real thing that I've got left to feel?_

_(Nothing to lose)_

_Just stuck, hollow and alone_

_And the fault is my own, and the fault is my own_

Lyrics to Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park

...

"So how will this work?" Rosette asked.

"Edward, you do the honors!" Remington said with a smile.

"Thank you Ewan" the Elder said. "The cross is just so we can hold him  
still. My invention will be hooked up to the pocketwatch. It is crucial that it is hooked up correctly! If there is a mistake Chronos soul would 'leak out' so to say, or in other words, it'll be lost with no way to get it back. Anyway, his soul will be transferred to Shader's invention which will transfer it to his body" the Elder explained. His eyes shined in excitement behind his goggles.

"Ok. What do the horns have to play in this?" Rosette asked.

"The horns will help him to obtain the astral and to retain it. Without them his body  
wouldn't be able to collect the astral it needs to make the Final  
Transfer of his soul to his body; not including the astral he needs to  
stay alive. His wound caused his body to stop retaining the astral from your contract. With the horns, Chrono should retain the astral. "The Elder explained.

"What's the Final Transfer? Is that what Shader's invention does?"  
Satella asked still holding Chrono. Remington noticed and took the  
small purple haired demon from the red head. He set him on an empty  
table.

He took off Chronos red jacket, suspenders and his shirt from his  
chest. He stode in front of the demon blocking everyone from seeing the wound. He took a bandage from his militia uniform pocket and carefully wrapped the large  
wound on the demons chest. When he finished he quickly slipped off  
Chronos head band and folded it beside his other clothes. He picked up  
the small demon being careful of the bandages. He carried him to the  
cross and prepared him for the resurrection.

He wrapped numerous cuffs and straps on the demons bony wrists and ankles. He slipped a helmet over his head that covered his eyes. Remington carefully put several cords on his bandaged chest. Everything was hooked up to various machines and  
gadgets. When he was finished he looked back to the two girls.

"Hello? Elder! What is the Final Transfer?" Satella asked irritably. The Elder had been watching Remington. The Elder looked back to Satella. His eyes drifted down to her chest. Satella rolled her eyes but wasn't in the mood to do anything.

"The Final Transfer as I like to call it, is basically his soul sort of  
settling back into his body. If he doesn't have enough astral his soul  
will disappear with Chrono" the Elder explained.

"Chrono will disappear?" Rosette asked gulping. She couldn't imagine her demon friend disappearing. He always seemed indestructible. No matter what happened he always healed faster then a human. He was like superman but better.

"You've seen it before Sister Rosette. After a demon is killed it  
turns into a black dust" Sister Kate said.

"Oh yeah. I get it now." Rosette said.

"Is everything ready Ewan?" the Elder asked.

"Chronos ready to go!" Remington reported.

"Good. I'll fire this baby up" the Elder said. He retreated to his  
machines. He put on another pair of goggles and looked down at a big  
control pad. He clicked a few buttons. "Ok Rosette, hand me the  
pocketwatch" the Elder said.

Rosette slipped the pocketwatch off her head. With a quick look at the watch she handed it to the Elder. The Elder released the seal and attacked several cords and  
tubes to the old watch.

"Who has the horns?" Remington asked.

"I do!" Rosette said.

"Put them on his head" Remington ordered. Rosette pulled the ivory  
colored horns out of her gun holster and attached them to the tender  
area in his scalp where they use to sit. Skin began to form around the horn. Rosette let go slowly and stepped back and looked at her friend, biting back a smile. She had never seen him with horns. The long thin horns rose above his head like a crown.

The Elder clicked a few more keys. A low hum came from the machines.  
The pocketwatch clicked open farther. The dials spun around madly.  
Rosette watched intrigued as a small light began to glow. A beautiful luminous light radiated from the watch. Its light bathed the room before traveling down the cord to the Elders invention.

The light didn't dim as the Elders odd looking contraption began to  
work its magic. Rosette tried to look for any movement like the  
clocks dials but saw none. The light moved farther down to Shader's  
invention. The light didn't lose its light but instead turned a vibrant red  
color.

Rosette glanced at the Elder who was busy clicking away at keys. A  
bead of sweat ran down his face. Remington watched with a small smile  
while Satella and Sister Kate watched intrigued in the back of the dim room.

The light began to dim and the hum softened. The Elder clicked his  
keys with more ferocity. Remington frowned.

"What's going on?" the blond priest asked.

"I don't know. I checked all the machines and they're working properly.  
There shouldn't be any problem" the Elder said.

"What's happening?" Rosette asked.

"I don't know but we might lose his soul" The Elder said. Rosette  
froze instantly.

"Lose...his soul? Chrono?" Rosette gasped. Her eyes welled with  
tears. She couldn't lose her best friend, not again. She needed him.  
She need him to get Joshua, to get Azmaria and most of all she needed  
him beside her. She had never realized how much the small demon had meant to her until she had lost him. Now she knew the meaning to the saying 'You don't know what you got until it's gone'

"No!" Rosette cried. She threw herself at Chrono on the cross. She held his  
hand tightly.

"Don't you leave me! Don't you dare leave me!" Rosette cried to Chronos limp body. Remington hurried to Rosette with Satella right behind her. They firmly grabbed her shoulder and tried to pull her away from the small demon.

"Leave him alone Rosette!" Satella said.

"No wait! Let her stay! His soul is coming back!" the Elder exclaimed. The light began to brighten at an agonizingly slow pace. Remington and Satella let Rosette go.

"You better not leave me! I need you Chrono! I need you to be by my  
side! I can't keep going without you! I can't live without you! This  
contract is more then just a contract to me!" Rosette cried. Tears  
streamed freely down her face. She didn't care she was crying. She had  
to tell Chrono how she felt. The red light returned and glowed  
brighter and more vibrant then before.

"Please Chrono! Please come back!" Rosette cried. She cupped his cold cheek with her hands.

The red light moved from Shader's invention to his head, wrists, chest  
and ankles. Chronos body soon began to glow all over.

"That's it!" the Elder exclaimed jumping up from his chair.

Chronos eyes scarlet eyes flashed open. His chest filled with air and  
his body went rigid as he gasped for breath. His lungs filled with air. Remington hurried over and began to undo all the cords and tubes. Soon Remington had set  
Chrono down. Chronos eyes were tightly shut as he gasped. Rosette never let go of his hand.

"Come on Chrono! You can do it! Your almost there!" she encouraged  
him. She brushed a stray strand of his violet bangs from his face.  
Rosette smiled feeling the warmth return to his hands and face.

"Common Chrono!" Remington puffed. "You're nearly done. Just try a little harder"

…

Chrono looked around the cold, empty blackness. He looked around but  
saw nothing. He had never been so cold or felt so lonely and forgotten.

"Rosette?" he asked. He walked listening as his footsteps echoed  
through the darkness. He heard no reply. The silence was enough to make a person go mad. He was trapped in this dark lonely place for what seems like years. He kept searching and calling out for Rosette but he heard no reply.

Was this his punishment for being a sinner; being banned from Heaven  
and Hell? Was he stuck in this dark place for the rest of eternity?  
Without Rosette and Mary? Chrono looked around warily. He was  
getting tired both physically and mentally. If he had to spend  
eternity like this he would rather go to Hell then suffer the silence and darkness.

After wondering for what seems like decades something new happened.  
Chrono felt warmth bubble in his chest. It was comforting and  
different from the coldness that he had felt for so long. Anything different was better. He could have welcomed a thousand needles.

The warmth increased spread through out his chest. The warm seared though his heart and lungs. Chrono clutched his chest and coughed dryly, his breath coming in raspy gasps. He never thought he would want to feel the coldness again but the feeling in his chest burned like nothing he had felt before. It even felt worse then loosing his horns.

A flash of intensified heat flashed through his heart. Chrono screamed  
and collapsed to the ground, clutching at his chest. His heart seemed like it could break off. He writhed in pain and begged God to stop the unbearable pain.

The pain began to die down but Chrono died with it. A heavy darkness pushed on his entire body trying to push him to death. Chrono pushed, desperate to stay alive. He had to find Rosette. She needed him to find Joshua. He couldn't die without completing his promise.

"Ro...sette" he breathed weakly. A black mist swirled in his head and  
tried to consume him. The mist clouded his vision and made him dizzy. Chrono felt himself drifting off to God knows where. Searching and fighting for this long  
had exhausted him. He hadn't found any sigh Rosette or anything  
living for that matter, in the entire time he was there. His closed his eyes and let his heavy eyes close He let out his breath stopped fighting. The mist swarmed around him getting closer at a much quicker pace.

"Chrono!" a girl's voice pierced through the mist, causing Chrono to  
open his eyes. He knew that voice. It was Rosette! She hadn't  
forgotten about him after all.

"Rosette!" he called back to her weakly.

"Chrono? Don't leave me!" Rosette begged. Chrono tried to fight off  
the swirling darkness. He pushed it back but it was much harder then before. His whole body ached and screamed for him to stop but he needed to get to Rosette.

"Rosette!" he cried weakly. He struggled to find his feet. He pushed himself  
up, pushing away the darkness. A small light began to shine, chasing  
away the darkness. All the while, Rosette called to Chrono. Chrono stumbled  
towards her voice in the light. The light grew bigger and brighter as  
he neared.

The light flashed brightly in Chronos eyes. His chest tightened up  
making him gasp. He panicked. He couldn't breath! He tried to squirm and turn but felt his arms outstretched beside him. Opening his eyes he saw blurry figures stode in front of him. He could hear Rosettes voice clearer now. He closed his eyes from the burning light.

He struggled to find breath and something on his chest made it even  
harder. He was aware of movement around him before he was moved. Next  
thing he found himself lying on the floor. Rosette continued to call  
to him and beg him not to leave. She told him to keep fighting. He  
also recognized Remington's voice in the confusion of pain. He felt something on his hands. He gave it a weak squeeze. Wait a minute! It squeezed back! It was Rosettes hand! Chrono fought even harder then before.

As if by a switch, Chrono was able to breath. His took a long gasp, filling his lungs. A warm hand brushed his bangs out of his face. A smile creased his lips for what seems  
like the first time in ages. He slowly opened his eyes, relieved that  
the light didn't burn as much. As his vision became clearer he recognized beautiful blue eyes staring into his. He knew immediately who's they were.

"Hey Rosette" his voice cracked weakly.

Rosette pleaded with Chrono to try harder. He could make it, he had to  
make it.

"Come on Chrono!" she begged.

"Your almost there! Just a little more" Remington encouraged beside  
the blond nun.

Chrono chest heaved as he fought for breath. His whole body was rigid.  
His face was contorted in pain and agony. He gasped for breath. Rosette hated feeling so helpless. She wanted to help her friend. He shouldn't have to fight everything on his own. She felt a weak pressure on her hand. She grinned. His hand moved. She squeezed his hand back.

Chronos chest rose sharply with a long intake of breath. His scarlet  
eyes shot open. His eyes refocused as his breathing eased. Rosette  
brushed his bangs off of his face with a gentle smile. Azure locked  
with blood red orbs as their eyes met. A small smile tugged at Chronos  
features.

"Hey Rosette" he croaked. Rosette let out a cry of joy and wrapped her  
arms around Chrono in a hug. They both cried tears of joy into each  
others shoulder.

"I'm so glad your back, Chrono! I've missed you so much!" Rosette sobbed.

"I…heard your voice in the darkness and I knew I had to find you." Chrono said.  
Rosette felt his wheezing on her ear. It tickled her skin and made  
Rosettes skin prickle. She liked the feeling of his arms around her.  
It made her feel safe and loved.

Chrono quickly pushed Rosette away to cough into his arm. Rosette  
gently rubbed his back until his cough was soothed.

"Is that blood Chrono?" Satella asked. Ops, Rosette had forgotten  
about everyone else in the room. No one had said anything for a while.  
Rosettes gaze rested down at Chronos arm. Indeed there were spots if  
scarlet on his tanned skin.

Coughs racked Chronos frail body once more. Rosette rubbed his back  
and looked at her friend concerned. Blood was beginning to soak  
through his bandages.

"I had expected this much. Remington, stop the bleeding and re-bandage  
his wounds. Rosette, keep doing what you're doing. I have some medicine  
up in the infirmary to give him. However, the infirmary is packed so I  
have put some medication in his room." The Elder said.

Remington was already carefully unwrapping the bloody bandages to reveal  
Chronos shredded wound. Rosette winced as blood ran down his chest.

Rosette felt something warm gently squeeze her hand. She smiled at  
Chronos hand on top of hers. Scarlet orbs met blue pools once again.

"Don't look at it, Rosette. It makes me self conscious" Chrono said with  
a weak smile. He couldn't have spelled it any clearer to her. Don't  
stare at it if it grosses you out. Rosette and gently squeezed his hand  
back. She noticed the ivory horns sprouting from his temples. He was still in his younger form though, Rosette thought confused.

"Looks different, huh?" Chrono said with a laugh. Rosette blushed and  
looked away. Oh crap! Chrono saw her staring! "I know your used to my tinier self so I'll stay like this."

"Do you feel better? Are you getting astral? Or retaining it I should  
say?" Rosette said a little too quickly. Chrono chuckled at Rosette,  
making her blush.

"I'm fine Rosette. I feel so much better" Chrono said. Now that he  
mentioned it, his breathing already looked easier and not as painful.  
Rosette felt a big weight being lifted from her heart when he smiled  
at her. It wasn't a pained filled smile like most just to comfort her  
but a real smile.

"I'm finished" Remington said. Chronos chest had stopped bleeding and was already starting to heal.

"Your wound is healing quickly. If it stays at this rate, it should be  
completely healed without any scar by next week. The Elders medicine should also help" Remington said.

"Thanks Father Remington" Chrono said with a cheerful smile.

"No problem. Let's get you to your room so you can take that medicine"  
Remington said. He scooped Chrono up bridal style and started for the  
door. Rosette got up to follow but halted feeling a rough hand on her  
shoulder. She turned around to face Sister Kate's blank face.

"Keep a close eye on him" Sister Kate said in an icy voice.

"Why? He seems just fine!" Rosette said.

"That's not what I meant. Spending a long time in the darkness can mess  
with a persons head and heart, especially a devils" Sister Kate said  
gravely. Rosette nodded. Sister Kate released her grip on Rosette.

"Common Satella!" Rosette called cheerfully to the red head.

"I'll catch up with you Rosette! I need to do something down here"  
Satella said. Rosette nodded. It must have something to do with her  
sister. As she left the room she saw Sister Kate make eye contact with  
Satella. Rosette ignored her as she skipped up the stairs. She hurried  
to catch up with Remington. Tripping as she rounded the corner, Rosette  
looked at the tape running across the hallway that had caused her to  
fall flat on her face.

"What the-" Rosette exclaimed furiously. She looked at a sigh handing  
from the tape. 'Blocked off due to structural hazards' the sign read.  
Rosettes eyebrows knitted together. When did the convent have  
'structural hazards'? Peering down the hallway her eyes caught something  
causing her jaw to drop. The floor tiles had been ripped up and a big  
crack ran across the floor no more then fifty feet ahead of her.

"The demons did this" a voice said behind her to see her friend Claire  
standing behind the tape. Tears glistened in her eyes as she stared emotionlessly down the dark hallway.

"What happened?" Rosette asked gently.

"They all died" Claire said quietly. The internal battle going on  
the inside of the girl was evident from her trembling lip.

"Who died?" Rosette asked quietly as she rose to her feet. She took  
Claire's hands in hers and looked at her face.

"Mary and Anna" Claire exclaimed. She broke down into tears, covering  
her face with her hands. Rosette frowned and hugged the crying nun.

"Shh. It's all right" Rosette soothed. Claire suddenly pushed Rosette  
away.

"No it's not! This is all Chronos fault!" Claire exclaimed.

"What? Horsefeathers! Chrono wouldn't hurt a fly" Rosette said in  
defense for her friend.

"He brought Shader here! If Shader hadn't been here then Mary and Anna  
would still be alive!" Claire screamed.

"Listen Claire, I know your upset but you can't blame Chrono. You know  
Chrono didn't hurt anyone intentionally" Rosette said. Claire snorted.

"I knew you wouldn't understand. You only infatuate Chrono's kindness! You don't  
see the evil within him! But you will. Oh you will once he turns on  
you! He's just using you for your astral! It's what he wanted all  
along." Claire shouted. Fury bubbled inside of Rosette. She breathed  
heavily trying not to yell at the grieving nun. "I wished Chrono would  
have just died" Claire spat out like venom. She turned around ran away  
from Rosette who was gaping at Claire.

Rosette snorted. Claire was just upset. She wasn't thinking straight.  
You always wanted to blame someone for something tragic. But for some  
reason there was something that made Rosette think. Did everyone know something she didn't? Sister Kate, Satella, Claire...? Could she trust anyone? Could she  
trust Chrono? She knew he wouldn't kill Mary and Anna but was it  
possible he was just using her?

Rosette shook her head. How could she think such nonsense when Chrono  
had risked his life for hers and others many times? Rosette tried to  
block off those thoughts as she walked to Chronos room.

As Rosette approached the Elders hut she spotted the Elder and  
Remington walking out.

"Hello Rosette!" Remington said cheerfully "Chronos sleeping now but  
you can go see him"

"Ok. Thanks Remington!" Rosette said with a smile. Thankfully  
Remington didn't notice her fake smile. They left her thinking she  
must want some time alone with her contractor.

Rosette let herself inside the hut and into Chronos room.

Rosette smiled affectionately at her demon friend. His chest rose and  
fell calmly. His deep even breathing calmed Rosette. She quietly tip toed to his bed side. She wanted to wake him up and tell him how much she had missed him but she knew he was tired. She sat beside his bed and watched him quietly. Claire's words were instantly forgotten as Rosette took his tan hand in hers. She grinned feeling its warmth. Laying her head down on the side of his bed sleep soon caught up with her. The last thing she saw  
was Chrono sleeping peacefully, a gentle smile gracing his features.

_Lo he comes with cloud descending,_

_Once for favored sinners slain._

_Thousand thousand saints attending_

_Swell the triumph of his train.  
_

_Alleluia_

_Alleluia_

_Alleluia_

_God appears on Earth to reign_

_God appears on Earth to reign_

__

Those dear tokens of His passion

_Still His dazzling body bears;_

_Cause of endless exultation_

_To His ransomed worshippers;_

_With what rapture_

_With what rapture_

_With what rapture_

_Gaze we on those glorious scars! Gaze we on those glorious scars_

Lyrics to Azmaria no Uta by Azmaria (?)

**A/N:** Hey guys! Thanks for reading this! Now do you see why I really enjoyed writing this chapter! I finally brought my Chrono back. And yes, he is mine. Lol XD I have a feeling I'd have to fight for him here. My friends know not to. We all claimed anime characters. Mine is Chrono. My one friend claimed is Sebastian from Black Butler or Kuroshitsuji and my other friend claimed Kyo (Or Kyou) from Fruits Basket (Or Furuba. Whatever you prefer) Anyway, please review or I shall send Rosette after y'alls with gospels and holy water (Not that the holy water would hurt) Anyways I told you I would beg so *Gets down on knees* PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEESE! I'm BEGGING you to please REVIEW! It's not hard! Pwease clicky the little button on the bottom of this. If you hate it, TELL ME! If you love it, TELL ME! If it's all right I think you get my point but TELL ME! I also accept anonymous reviews. That is all

_Rosette:_ *Pulls out Colt .45 with gospel* REVIEW!

_Chrono:_ AHH! Rosette scary!

_HKA:_ Chrono! I've missed writing you so much! *Glomps*

_Chrono:_ *Gasps for air*

_Rosette:_ Get off oh meh demon. *Sprays bottle of holy water at HKA*

_HKA:_ Ahh! It burns! *Slinks away to dark corner.

_Rosette:_ Not that she's out of the picture…YOU BETTER REVIEW OR AION WILL TAKE OVER THIS WORLD!


	9. Chapter 9

**Darkest Knight. Chapter 9**

**AN:** Hey guys! Heres the next chapter. Surprisingly I don't have much to say…BUT the cast of Chrono Crusade does! (I love writing this! It's so fun!)

_Rosette_: Hey! We can hear you!

_HKA:_ Bring it Rosette!

_Chrono:_ Gah! Cat fight!

_Shader_: Cat fight! I'm the cat here!

_Rosette:_ Gah! Shader! How dare you!

_Shader:_ Don't judge the book by the cover.

_HKA:_ What the- haha! I know what she means and you don't! *Sticks tongue out*

_Rosette:_ *Pulls out vial of holy water* Tell me now!

_HKA:_ AHH *Faints*

_Rosette:_ Ha! I win!

_Satella:_ No you don't.

_Rosette:_ Gah! The witch is here! Get away!

_HKA:_ Anyway…heh heh…Bring on the disclaimer!

_**Joshua:**_** Hikari does not own Chrono Crusade or any of its characters.**

_**Azmaria: **_**Chrono Crusade belongs to Daisuke Moriyama-sama and Gonzo.**

_**Sister Kate:**_** Hikari also does not own the songs in the beginning and end of the chapters.**

_HKA:_ On with the show! The actors are set and everything is ready!

_Rosette:_ Gah! Stop copying Aion! *Chases Hikari with holy water*

_HKA:_ Gah! *Runs away*

_Angel of darkness _

_Angel of darkness _

_The world is in your hand _

_But I will fight until the end  
_

_Angel of darkness _

_Angel of darkness _

_Don't follow your command _

_But I will fight and I will stand_

when darkness falls 

_Pain is all _

_The Angel of Darkness _

_Will leave behind _

_And I will fight_

Lyrics to Angel of Darkness by Alex C

"Rosette" a gentle voice said breaking though her sleep. She moaned softly and kept her eyes closed.

"Com'mon Rosette. Its time to wake up" the warm voice said again. Rosette blinked her eyes open slowly. She groaned and rubbed her eyes. She looked up confused. The first thing she saw was Chronos scarlet eyes staring into hers gently.

"Good morning sleepy head. Well actually it's not morning. The Elder just came in and told us dinner is ready if we wanted it" Chrono said with a small laugh. He smiled gently at Rosette. Rosette nodded wordlessly. Chrono pushed the blanket of him and stode up. He put his hands over his head and stretched with a content sigh.

"Don't do that Chrono!" Rosette exclaimed.

"Why not?" Chrono pouted.

"You'll open your wound." Rosette scolded.

"But I'm so stiff!" Chrono whined. Rosette rolled her eyes.

"Com'mon you little baby" Rosette teased. She took his hand and led him towards the door.

"Wait Rosette!" Chrono exclaimed.

"What now?" Rosette groaned turning to face the small demon.

"I need to change" he mumbled. For the first time, Rosette noticed he was still shirtless. His bear chest was covered by his bandages but she could still see some skin.

"Go put a shirt on then!" Rosette exclaimed. "I'll wait for you in the Elders workshop" Rosette hurried out of the door so Chrono could have some privacy. Leaning against the wall she mentally slapped herself.

_You dolt! How are you ever going to tell Chrono what he means to you if you can't stop teasing him!_

The door to Chronos room creaked open snapping Rosette out of her thoughts. Chrono stepped out of the room looking rather embarrassed. Rosette burst into laughter seeing him dressed in the blue sailor suit Satella had let him borrow when they had visited her villa. Chronos face burned red.

"I knew I looked stupid! My other outfit is dirty!" he exclaimed.

"Horse feathers! You look cute! Com'mon! I'm starving!" Rosette exclaimed. She took Chronos hand and started dragging him out the door. She charged like a bull towards the mess hall. Behind her Chrono tried to keep up with her huffing and puffing.

"Ros…sette! Please…can we stop?" he gasped. Rosette stopped and let him rest. She didn't turn to face him as he caught his breath.

"Honestly Chrono! You are so out of shape!" Rosette scolded playfully. Chrono started to cough, racking his small weak body. Rosette turned to him concerned

"I'm so sorry Chrono" she exclaimed. She rubbed his back gently.

"It's…fine Ros…ette" he said between coughs. Rosette continued to rub his back. Her face and hands burned with guilt. She had forgotten he was still weak. He had seemed just like normal that she had forgotten. His coughs were soon soothed. He smiled up at Rosette.

"Don't give me that smile!" Rosette snapped. She hated that pained smile that he only gave her to calm her. Rosette felt his forehead with her hand. It felt warm and clammy to the touch.

"You sure you in the mood to eat. I could bring you some food" Rosette offered.

"I'm fine Rosette. I want to get out of the Elders hut. It's dark in there and I'm tired of the darkness" he said. Taking Rosettes hand in his he gave it a soft squeeze. Rosette smiled back at him and squeezed his hand back.

"Let's go then" she said. She didn't let go of Chronos hand afraid that he'd go back into his coughing fit. Together the nun and demon walked to the mess hall slowly. The mess hall a wreck with broken glass littering the floor. A few nuns sat by the tables. Many tables had been destroyed but there were so few people that it didn't matter.

"Where did everyone go?" Chrono asked looking around confused. Rosette bit her lip. How much should she tell him now after he had just came back. She didn't even know the full story herself.

"Um…they er…" Rosette stuttered.

"This is all that's left" a sad voice said behind them. Rosette and Chrono turned to face a sad looking Sister Kate. "This is actually busy now considering how many lost their lives to the demon"

"What demon?" Chrono asked confused. Rosette could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

"Shader betrayed us. She kidnapped you and summoned what seemed like every demon from Pandemonium." Sister Kate spat. She sighed. "We lost many good exorcise and many good friends"

Chrono looked at Kate in shock. He shoke his head.

"No. Shader couldn't have betrayed us. She…she…she…" he exclaimed. He closed his eyes tight. "Oh God…it's all my fault" he whispered. Rosette put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault Chrono. You didn't know anything like this would happen." Rosette said. She brushed his bangs out of his face. He scooted away from her.

"No! Get away from me!" he exclaimed.

"Chrono, knock it off!" Rosette exclaimed. She looked at Sister Kate for help but Sister Kate looked back at her with cold eyes.

"Keep an eye on him" she repeated. She left Rosette to deal with a strange Chrono. Rosette stuck her tongue out at the head nuns back and turned back to Chrono.

"You can't always blame yourself Chrono" she said gently. She put her hand on his back. Chrono shrugged her hand off.

"I wouldn't blame myself if it wasn't my fault" Chrono spat in self hatred.

"This wasn't your fault. You didn't know it would happen" Rosette said firmly. She gripped Chronos shoulders firmly. "Stop blaming your self for everything"

Chronos face cracked. He looked down at his hands by his side. Rosette couldn't see his face. His purple locks shadowed his face. She tried to get a reading on him but she drew a blank. She surrounded him in a hug. Chrono stiffened in surprise but soon relaxed. Rosette softly stroked his hair. Chrono wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her shoulder.

"It's not always your fault Chrono. You need to realize when it is and when it isn't. Most of the time it's not your fault. It's Aions" Rosette said.

"Aion." Chrono spat out like venom. "I could have prevented this all years ago"

"But then I wouldn't have met you Chrono. Aion is bad completely. We'll get Joshua back and Azmaria" Rosette said.

"Azmaria? Did Aion take Azmaria!" Chrono exclaimed. He pushed himself off of Rosette gently and looked at her. Oh crap! Rosette had forgotten he didn't know.

"Yeah. I had to trade her for you and your horns" Rosette said. Chrono shook his head again. He covered his face with his hands and tried to choke his bangs.

"No. Not Azmaria! How could he do this?" Chrono said dejectedly.

"Why is Aion so mad at you?" Rosette asked.

"Not now. Not here" Chrono said. Rosette looked behind Chrono. They were still in the mess hall. Some nuns were glancing in their direction and giving them odd looks. Rosette shot them a warning glance. They shuttered and looked away.

"I'm always here if you need to talk" Rosette said. Chrono laughed softly in his ear.

"Thanks Rosette. I really missed you" Chrono said. Rosette could hear the smile in his voice.

"I missed you too Chrono. What was like the pocketwatch like?" Rosette asked.

"Pocketwatch?" Chrono asked confused.

"I forgot you didn't know. Your soul was trapped inside the pocketwatch when you died." Rosette exclaimed.

"So that's what it's like." Chrono laughed bitterly. "It was completely dark and maddeningly empty…and cold…and lonely" Chronos voice drowned off. His scarlet eyes stared past her at something no one else could see. The small demon shivered. Rosette took his hand and gave it another squeeze. Chrono looked at her, his eyes refocusing. He smiled softly.

"Thanks Rosette" he said with a smile.

"Lets get something to eat. You must be hungry" Rosette said. Chrono nodded and followed her to the lines. Chrono went to the soup line. Rosette stayed with him because she always got something from each line. Chrono sat his tray down on a table with a soft clank. He sat down and picked up his spoon. He felt eyes burning into the back of his head. His ears pricked up quiet whispers. Any normal human wouldn't have heard it but since he wasn't a normal human, or even a human for that matter, he could hear it perfectly.

"The devils back" they whispered.

"He's the one that brought Shader here"

"He caused everyone's death"

Chrono closed his eyes and dropped his spoon. He balled his hands into fists in self hatred. He dug his claws into his palm. He smiled feeling a warm liquid well up in his nail. He liked the small pain it brought. He deserved any pain he got.

"I can't believe Sister Kate allowed Remington and the Elder to bring him back"

"He should have just stayed dead"

Chrono laughed bitterly at himself. He should have just stayed dead. He deserved the cold, suffocating darkness. He deserved the pain he felt in his heart and the loneliness he felt.

He didn't notice as Rosette sat down across from him. Rosette started to shove food into her mouth. She noticed that Chronos soup was barely touched.

"Hey Chrono? Aren't you hungry?" Rosette asked looking up from her food. Chrono didn't appear to listen to her. His eyes were dark in self hatred. He was squeezing his palms tightly not. Blood was starting to drip off his fingers.

"Chrono! Stop that!" Rosette scolded giving his a hard smack on the head. Chrono yelped and glared at her angrily.

"What was that for?" he demanded reaching up to touch his head. Before he could touch his hair he tentatively pulled his hands away.

"What the heck did you do to your hand? Are you an idiot?" Rosette snapped.

"It's none of your business!" Chrono exclaimed fuming. Rosette jumped to her feet and glared down at the angry demon.

"It is my business when you're hurting yourself!" Rosette shouted. Now all eyes in the room where on them. Chrono jumped up and glared right at Rosette.

"It's my body I can do what I want!" Chrono spat. "It'll heal anyway!"

"That's not the point! You've got to stop before it gets out of hand!" Rosette shouted.

"Whatever I do, I deserve. I should have never brought Shader here!" Chrono shouted.

"Are you going back to that? I thought we already talked about that?" Rosette yelled.

"Not everyone's convinced Rosette" Chrono said quietly. He winced and looked away from her. "I can hear the things the others would never say to my face" he voice was no more then a whisper. Rosettes gaze softened. She gently touched the top of Chronos hand.

"That's just them Chrono. Don't always listen to what everyone says. They're just upset." Rosette said quietly. Chrono yanked his hand away.

"No! Stop trying to make me feel better!" he exclaimed. He turned and sprinted away from the Mess Hall leaving Rosette speechless. People started to quietly murmuring disbelieve. Rosette stood there frozen for a few minutes then sprinted after him.

"Chrono wait!" she exclaimed. She turned the corner. Which way did he go? He probably went outside. He always loved to sit against a tree. Rosette ran out to the garden. She looked around. Panic rose in her when she couldn't find her friend. Rosette looked up, the sky was dark. The clouds threatened to rain on her. She bit her lip. She had to find her friend. What if he tried to hurt himself more?

"Looking for something Rosette?" Remington's voice asked behind her. Rosette yelped and jumped. 

"Remington! You scared me!" she exclaimed. "Have you seen Chrono? I need to find him!"

"He ran out of the gate not to long ago. You could probably catch up to him quickly. He wasn't going to fast" Remington said. Rosette breathed in relieve

"Thank you!" she exclaimed. Remington nodded. Rosette took off towards the gate. She looked around the once busy city. Barely anyone was out. Rosette looked around. She smiled seeing his ribbon laying in a dirty pile to her left. Taking off down the street Rosette called Chronos name. She caught a flash of purple disappearing down an alley. Rosette crossed the street and disappeared down the alley. At a first glance it was empty but she saw a small pitiful form couched in the corner of the dead end. Rosette stepped closer.

"Chrono?" she asked. The figures head looked up. Red eyes looked at her blue eyes then looked back then. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling Chrono. I'm just concerned."

"Don't be. I'm not going to do anything. I couldn't do anything because I have to keep my promise to you" he said. Rosette couched beside him and put her arm around him and drew him for a hug.

"Chrono, you have to stop blaming yourself for everything. You can only see the bad side of yourself. You need to look deeper and see all the good things too. Before you jump to conclusions and start blaming yourself think of what would have happened if you did the exact opposite." Rosette said.

"Shader wouldn't have killed all those people if I hadn't told her about the Order" Chrono said.

"Maybe, if it really was a trick she would have done it anyway" Rosette said.

"Maybe." Chrono looked back down at his hands.

Rosette hugged him tightly.

"Please stop hurting yourself. Even the thing you did with your hands was bad enough" Rosette asked.

"I promise I won't Rosette." Chrono said.

"Thank you. Let's go back to the Order" Rosette said. She stode up and pulled him to his feet. Chrono smiled at Rosette causing her to blush. Chronos ears pricked and he shoved Rosette behind him with a fierce growl.

"My my Chrono!" an amused voice growled. "You're a little rusty"

"What do you want?" Chrono spat. Rosette looked nervously at Chrono. She had never seen him like this before.

"Right down to business, huh? Well you're lucky that human girl was here. I was surprised to scent you in an alley." Rosette noticed the figure standing in the shadow. She could see metallic fangs glinting in the darkness. Chrono took a step farther away from the demon.

"What do you want Ezekiel?" he growled.

"I want you dead, Sinner" the figure growled. The figure took one step out of the darkness. The figures face was covered in a bandana and a big black cloak.

"Chrono…" Rosette gasped.

"Hold onto my back tightly Rosette. I'm going to transform" Chrono warned her quietly. Ezekiel walked closer to him slowly with a grin. Rosette grabbed him around his waist and closed her eyes.

The energy flowed though Chrono. Without the pocketwatch to hold any of the astral back, Chrono let out a deep roar. Within a few milliseconds he grew taller and more muscular. Black leathery wings sprouted from his back and his long braid turned to his bone like whip. He spread his wings and sprung into the air.

Rosette let out a scream. The alley quickly got smaller. She sighed in relief until she saw Ezekiel shoot from the alley towards them.

"Sinner! Come back here and fight like a real demon!" Ezekiel exclaimed. Chrono swore and as fast as lightening turned Rosette around so that he was holding her in his arms. Rosette wrapped her arms around his neck. Ezekiel quickly caught up. His arm turned into his sword and sped even faster. Chrono dashed to the side just before Ezekiel could touch him.

"Rosette. I need to put you down somewhere safe." Chrono said his baritone voice deeper.

"But Chrono…!" Rosette exclaimed.

"I'm going to take you to the Order" Chrono interrupted her. "I need you to go to Remington."

"Ok. Just be careful" Rosette said.

"I will. Don't worry about me" Chrono said. He dropped down into the Orders garden and set Rosette down gently.

"Run Rosette!" he exclaimed. Rosette sprinted off towards the Order. Just as Chrono turned around a fist slammed into his chest, sending him crashing into his favorite tree. A cruel laugh echoed though the silence as Chrono sat up.

"This is the power that killed one hundred million of its own kind?" Ezekiel laughed. "This is too easy" Chrono clenched his teeth and growled.

"Why are you here Ezekiel?" Chrono demanded. He quickly glanced to make sure Rosette was gone. He sighed in relief when he didn't see her in sight. A few sisters were racing out of the Order armed with guns.

"I'm here by Orders of Pandemonium to execute all Sinners" Ezekiel said stalking towards the purple haired demon. Chrono jumped to his feet and turned his arm into his sword. The power raced though his veins. He snarled at Ezekiel and raced towards him. The two demons swords clashed together.

"You're going to need to try harder then this. You dare try anything around my Rosette" Chrono growled.

"So she's your human? That should be very interesting." Ezekiel said.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Chrono growled punching Ezekiel in the face.

"Oh I have no intentions to do anything to her. You're a disgrace to demons. You think you love that girl but love is impossible for demons to feel." Ezekiel laughed.

"Maybe for you, but not for me" Chrono growled. Ezekiel shoved Chrono away with his sword. By that time, Father Remington had raced outside with Rosette close behind him.

"Prepare to use Sacred Spirits" Remington ordered!

"That will only slow them down, Father! Couldn't we use Gospels?" a Sister asked.

"No, the purple haired demon is fighting for us. Only aim for the black caped demon and only shoot if you have a clear shot!" Remington ordered.

"Yes sir!" the Sisters exclaimed and pointed their guns at Ezekiel.

"Haha! Inferior humans! That won't hurt me!" Ezekiel laughed. Chrono stepped away from Ezekiel to give the nuns a better shot.

"Fire!" Remington ordered. Sacred Spirits cut though the air towards Ezekiel. Ezekiel closed his eyes and absorbed all the bullets.

"No way!" Remington gasped. He loaded his gun with gospel and aimed at Ezekiel. "Get farther away Chrono!"

"No! This is my fight to fight, not yours!" Chrono spat. He charged at Ezekiel again with his sword. Chrono and Ezekiel's swords flashed though the air furiously.

"So you need humans to fight your battles for you, do you sinner?" Ezekiel taunted.

"Shut up!" Chrono spat.

"I see where you get your fascination for humans from? I'm a little to see what that little blond of yours is like." Ezekiel laughed.

"Don't touch her!" Chrono slashed his sword across Ezekiel's chest. Ezekiel stumbled back with a grunt. Chrono took advantage of his vulnerability and stabbed his stomach. Ezekiel screamed.

"Sinner, I'll be back!" he gasped. He disappeared clutching his bleeding stomach. Chrono panted from exhausted and turned back to his little kid form. Rosette ran to him.

"Chrono! Are you ok?" she asked.

"Rosette…I'm fine!" he gasped with a soft smile.

"Who was that guy?" Rosette asked.

"That was Ezekiel, a high leveled demon. He is kinda the law enforcer in Pandemonium. He said he was ordered to execute all Sinners" Chrono said.

"So this Ezekiel person wanted to kill you?" Rosette asked. Chrono nodded.

"I'm not sure if he wants anything to do with your or not but just in case, take your gun with you anywhere you go" Chrono said.

"Oh please, I never leave anywhere without it" Rosette said with a smile.

"I knew but I just wanted to make sure. I don't want you to get hurt. Just let me fight this out. He is stronger then Aion but he isn't strong when he gets hurt. Once he's injured he's done" Chrono said.

"Ha! What a wimp!" Rosette exclaimed.

"I think I'm the first one he visited. He would have told me if he killed any of the other Sinners" Chrono said.

"If Shader was still friendly I think I would warn her but not now" Rosette spat.

Chrono laughed. "I'm still surprised at Shader. I don't think he had much of a choice to do that. We were great friends when I was with the Sinners" Chrono said.

"That was fifty four years ago. A lot can happen in that time." Rosette said sympathetically.

"I know it can. Just look at Aion and I. We were even better friends" Chrono said. "I wonder where Ezekiel will go next. I think I injured him pretty good so for him, he'll probably wait a few days before going 'hunting' again and I doubt it'll be with me. I likes to play with his prey" Chrono said. His eyes held more then he was telling. Rosette didn't want to press him though. He looked tired.

"Why don't you go and rest?" Rosette asked.

"Ok. I'm still kinda hungry" Chrono said with a smile.

"No duh genius! You hardly ate anything!" Rosette exclaimed.

"Well…ah…er…" Chrono stammered. Rosette laughed and took him by his arm.

"Come on stupid" she said dragging him towards his room. "I saved your soup from earlier"

"Thanks Rosette" Chrono said.

"Your welcome and thanks for protecting me" Rosette said blushing softly.

"Anything for you Rosette." Chrono said smiling softly. Rosette blushed and took him to his room and watched him eat and made sure he ate it all.

"Did you take your medicine?" Rosette asked.

"No. I think I should re-do my bandage my chest. I think it re-opened" Chrono said. Rosette nodded and got a roll of bandages from the table as Chrono pulled off his shirt. His wound had opened up and was bleeding a little but it wasn't too bad. Rosette re-did the bandages and tied it off. As Chrono put his shirt back on Rosette got his medicine from the desk drawer. Handing him the pills and a cup of water Chrono smiled at her.

"Thanks Rosette. You're the best." He said.

"I know that!" Rosette exclaimed. Chrono laughed and took his pills.

"I'll leave you to rest" Rosette said.

"Ok. See you soon Rosette" Chrono yawned and burrowed himself under his covers. Rosette smiled at how adorable he was and left. She felt worry clawing at her insides. What if Ezekiel came back and tried to kill him again? What if he succeeds? Rosette would feel terrible that she never told him what he meant to her. She felt so stupid. She missed her chance again! She vowed to herself that she could tell him when he woke up.

_(Tried to give you warning but everyone ignores me)_

_Told you everything loud and clear_

_(But nobody's listening)_

_(Called to you so clearly but you don't want to hear me)_

_Told you everything loud and clear_

_(But nobody's listening)_

Lyrics to Nobody's Listening by Linkin Park

A/N: Hey guys! By the way, if you like Linkin Park, watch Saturday Night live this week (February 5, 2011) because they'll be the guest singer. OMG! Last weeks one skit was hilarious. It's on You Tube. It's called 'The Creep' check it out! I think I might do a song fic of 'The Creep' about the Elder. Lol XD Thanks for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry about the ending, I got a little impatient! I really wanted to get this out today! I added a new story. It's called Soar Into the Air! Check it out! I have a quick question for you guys. What do you like more of Romance, adventure or blood and gore? Let me know and I'll try to add more of it in here! Arigato for reading (THIS IS SPARTA) ^_^

_Rosette:_ Review now!

_Chrono:_ Rosette! Say please!

_Rosette:_ *sighs* Fine! Review now _please!_

_Chrono:_ Thank you!

_Rosette:_ Stupid demon!

_Chrono:_ What you say?

_Rosette:_ Oh nothing! *looks innocent*

_Chrono:_ Ngh!


	10. Chapter 10

**Darkest Knight. Chapter 10**

**AN:** Yo! Hey guys. What's up? Heres my next chapter. Gasp! Double digits. *Sniffs* its growing right before me eyes…and yet still no reviews. *Eyes people* what is so wrong with it! Wa!

_Rosette:_ Is there somethin' you gotta say? *Pulls out gun*

_Chrono:_ Gah! Rosette! Don't shoot the readers!

_Rosette:_ And just why shouldn't I, Chrono?

_Chrono:_ Cuz then there is absolutely no chance that anyone will review.

_Rosette:_ Applesauce! Your right! -_-

_Chrono:_ I'm always right ^_^

_Rosette:_ HORSE FEATHERS! You live in your own little world.

_Chrono:_ Nuh uh! I left Pandemonium years ago!

_Rosette:_ *Face palm*

_Chrono:_ Sneak peak to Hikari's new one shot at the end of this chapter!

_**Joshua:**_** Hikari does not own Chrono Crusade or any of its characters**

_**Father Remington:**_** It belongs to Daisuke Moriyama-sama and Gonzo (Stupid Gonzo made a joke out of the anime -_-)**

_**Sister Kate:**_** The songs in the beginning and end of the chapters belong to their respectable owners. **

_HKA:_ ONWARD!

…***…

_You're a little bit racist._

Well, you're a little bit too.

I guess we're both a little bit racist.

Admitting it is not an easy thing to do...

But I guess it's true.

Between me and you,

_I think_

Everyone's a little bit racist

_Sometimes._

_Doesn't mean we go _

_Around committing hate crimes._

_Look around and you will find_

_No one's really color blind._

_Maybe it's a fact_

_We all should face_

_Everyone makes judgments_

_Based on race._

Lyrics to Everyone's A Little Bit Racist by Avenue Q 

…***…

Jenai walked down the dark solitary hallways of Eden. It was past midnight and everyone was asleep. Aion had forced him to watch over the apostle, Azmaria. Veide had taken over his shift for him. The blind demons thoughts drifted to the spider demon, Rizelle. Jenai had always lusted for Rizelle but Rizelle had wanted Aion. For over fifty years he had watched Rizelle and Aion flirt with each other when it had been Jenai who thought more of her. He laughed bitterly to himself. He was starting to sound like Chrono, thinking he could love someone. He didn't love Rizelle. He had only lusted after her. He regretted not making his move on her before the stupid nun that Chrono hang out with killed her. Jenai still missed Rizelle. Aion hadn't even appeared to care when she died.

_Aion gently enclose his strong fingers around the dead spider._

_"Well it seems as if Rizelle found more then she actually knew" he said with a cruel laugh. He dropped the limp spider to the floor and walked away as if nothing happened. Jenai let out an angered scream. Rizelle was dead and her flirt didn't even care_

A dark figure landed behind Jenai and crept behind the still grieving demon. A smile curved over his pearly fangs. He licked lips. He could almost taste the sweet metallic blood in his mouth. He stayed to the shadows out of sight. Jenai kept walking, ignorant to the demon behind him.

The hunter eyed his prey. He was tired of watching Jenai. He stretched his wings out behind him and quickly shot towards the unsuspecting demon. Jenai only had time to scream before the demon stabbed his sword arm through Jenai's torso. Jenai was still alive. His breath came out in rasps. The demon smirked down at Jenai. Blood trailed down Jenai's side. Jenai writhed in pain under the demons tight grasp. The demon pressed down on Jenai's neck cutting off his air way. Jenai gagged and feebly tried to pry the hand off.

"Ezekiel?" Jenai managed to choke out in disbelief. Jenai's eyes flickered up before closing for the last time. He went limp as his last breath escaped his lips. Ezekiel smiled and leaned in towards Jenai's neck. He smelled the blood. He sunk his fangs into the tender skin and sucked the blood from Jenai's veins. He sucked out every last drop of the delicious liquid before licking his lips. He sat up and grinned at his sword still Jenai's body. He had modified his sword so that it kept demons from turning to dust if it was still in their body. A gasp made Ezekiel turn around. Veide was staring in disbelief at Jenai's motionless body and Ezekiel crouched form.

"Jenai!" he exclaimed. Ezekiel laughed cruelly and shot into the sky, blowing though the ceiling of the hallway. He could hear Veide's shouts for Jenai and for Aion. Ezekiel laughed again and shot towards Pandemonium to report. He hadn't been back to Pandemonium. He didn't want to tell everyone that Chrono had been able to injure him. He had rested for a few days and then tracked down Veide. He still needed to rest a bit before he took on Aion or Chrono but he was looking forward to attacking Chrono and making him pay for making a fool out of him.

…***…

Chrono and Rosette sat in the Mess Hall eating their lunch. Rosette was shoveling food into her mouth. Beside her Chrono was peacefully eating his soup. He had just been given clearance to be able to go out on the fields again. It had been a few days after Ezekiel had attacked and he was fully recovered from his wounds from his original battle with the Soul Eater.

Rosette still hadn't worked up the guts to talk to Chrono. She had promised herself she would tell him when he woke up the day Ezekiel had suddenly appeared but she kept making excuses to herself. She honestly wanted to find the right time. She hadn't been able to find it since the only time she was actually alone with him was when he was sleeping

Chrono being a demon and being able to read some thoughts was able to tell she wanted to tell him something. He cleared his throat nervously causing Rosette to look up at him.

"Er…Rosette," he said nervously.

"Er huh?" Rosette asked with her mouth full of food.

"Er…" Chrono said in disgust. He shook it off and looked into her eyes. "Are you ok? You don't seem yourself"

"What! Horse feathers! I'm perfect Chrono! Never been better!" Rosette exclaimed plastering a food filled smile.

Chrono laughed, "You're a bad liar Rosette. Will you tell me what's wrong?" he asked trying to encourage her to tell him what she wanted to tell him.

"Nothing is wrong Chrono! Will you let it go?" Rosette snapped. Chrono held his hands up.

"No need to snap, Rosette. I'm just concerned." Chrono said blinking innocently.

Rosette growled. Curse him for making her feel bad! She sighed.

"Sometime soon, Chrono. I'll tell you sometime soon" Rosette said with a sigh. Chrono grinned.

"Thanks Rosette!" he exclaimed. He took his empty bowl of soup up and threw it out. Rosette stuck her tongue out at his receding back and turned back to her food. Chrono sat back down with Rosette and waited her to finish eating. Remington walked into the doorway and looked around the room. His eyes fell on the two friends sitting at the table and made his way over to them.

"Good evening" Remington said.

"Hi Father Remington" Chrono said politely.

"Rellow Fawtur!" Rosette said quickly with her mouth still full of food. Remington and Chrono smiled nervously.

"What up Remington?" Chrono asked.

"Why is it anytime I come around people are always asking what's going on!" Remington exclaimed.

"Because, your usually busy and don't sit to just chat" Chrono said with a sweat drop.

"Well unfortunately your right. We have a mission for you." Remington began.

"Can we go to rescue Azmaria now?" Rosette exclaimed.

"Not yet. The Elder is working on an invention that might come in handy" Remington explained.

"He's making a lot of inventions lately" Rosette said.

"Yeah, he's found a new trick and it seems to be working well" Remington said.

"What's the mission?" Chrono asked.

"Stop being so professional Chrono!" Rosette snorted slapping him on his head. Remington laughed at the pair and proceeded.

"There have been reports of strange disappearances in a small remote town in New York" Remington explained. "The only clue found at the crime scene was a black feather in a pool of blood"

Chronos eyes narrowed and his body tensed.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"You, will investigate the disappearances and exorcise whatever demon you find" Remington said.

"That doesn't sound too hard, does it Chrono?" Rosette asked.

"Don't underestimate it Rosette" Chrono warned only loud enough for her to hear.

"You are expected to leave as soon as possible. I would assume you guys are eager to get back into the action" Remington said with a smile.

"You bet!" Rosette exclaimed with a cheerful face. She grabbed the back of Chronos collar causing him to gasp and grab at his collar to try to loosen it.

"Come on Chrono! Lets go get packed!" Rosette exclaimed. "See ya later Remington!" she exclaimed as she dragged the helpless demon behind her. Remington laughed and left the room. He smiled warmly at the Sisters he past in the hallway and stopped when he came to Sister Kate's office door. He knocked on the door and walked in.

"Back so soon Remington?" Sister Kate asked looking up from a pile of papers.

"Yes. They are going to pack now" Remington said.

"Good" Sister Kate said turning her attention back to the paperwork.

"Can I talk to you about Chrono?" Remington asked.

"What about him? Is he acting weird?" Sister Kate asked her voice serious.

"No. He's perfectly normal as if nothing happened" Remington said "I don't think the time he spent in the pocketwatch did anything to him"

"Maybe not now but I think he will show something. It's not possible for a demon to spend so much time in a place like that and not be affected" Sister Kate said.

"Sister, Chrono is different from other demons. I think you need to learn to trust him" Remington said gently. Sister Kate growled slightly.

"I'm done with this talk Remington. Please leave me to do the paperwork" Sister Kate said. Remington sighed.

"As you wish" he said.

…***…

Chrono shoved the last of the bags into the jalopy and took his place in the passenger seat. Rosette was in the drivers seat sleeping. Chrono sighed. He nudged her gently.

"Rosette, time to wake up" he said with a sweet smile. Rosette shrieked and extended a fist in surprise. His fist connected with Chronos nose and sent him into the passenger window. Rosette yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked at Chrono still leaning against the window with a bloody nose.

"Don't get blood on the seat!" Rosette snapped. Chrono grunted and sat up and transformed into demon form using his horns. It would be much quicker to heal his nose that way. He didn't want to get a bump on his head for getting blood on something. The car sped out of the convent. Chrono had been about to convert back into his smaller form when she darted out but decided that if there was an accident it would be best to be in demon form. He held onto his seat with a death grip as Rosette tried to navigate her way though New York's still empty streets.

"Jeeze Rosette! There are no cars to worry about! Just slow down, will you!" Chrono exclaimed.

"Shut up Chrono!" Rosette hissed gripping the steering wheel even harder and leaning over in her seat. "I'm trying to concentrate"

"Dear Lord!" Chrono sighed. "We're gonna die!"

"I said shut up!" Rosette snapped. The turned the steering wheel sharply causing Chrono to bounce around in his seat. "Where do we need to go?"

Chrono took out the map and tried to read it, "I think we missed our turn" he said sweat dropping. Rosette turned the wheel again and did a sharp u-turn. After about two hours of sharps turns and turn a rounds the two finally made it to their destination.

Rosette crashed the car into a tree just before she got to the town so Chrono had to carry all their bags. The town was almost deserted. A few people were sitting on their porches on rocking chairs. Seeing the strangers, they got up and hurried into their houses.

"I guess we should find a place to spend the night and then go investigate" Rosette said.

"I don't feel any demonic presences here now. The demon must have left" Chrono said.

"Maybe it'll come back soon" Rosette said walking down the dirt road ahead of Chrono. Chrono hurried after her. They looked around at the empty town. When the locals saw them they turned and ran back into their houses. They found an empty inn at the end of the road. Rosette and Chrono walked into the lobby. The person at the front desk looked at them.

"Hello sir and ma'am. Would you like a room?" she asked politely.

"Yes please" Rosette exclaimed.

"How long will you be staying?" the desk person asked. (I'm sorry. I forget what they're called -_-)

"Hopefully only one day. Oh and two rooms please! I don't want to share a room with _him_" Rosette exclaimed motioning to Chrono.

"Hey! You don't have to say it so meanly!" Chrono said.

"Shut up you pervert!" Rosette exclaimed.

"I'm not a pervert!" Chrono exclaimed.

"Yes you are! You live with the Elder and no one can be clean or holy around that old fart! I bet you read those dirty magazines he has laying around!" Rosette snapped back at him accusing.

"I don't!" Chrono squealed.

"That's what they all say" Rosette said.

"What! Rosette…"Chrono began.

"Shut up! I'm talking" Rosette interrupted him. "Two rooms please" Rosette laid some money on the counter. The lady handed her two keys. Rosette handed one of the keys to Chrono. They put their bags in their bags and they left to go investigate.

Walking into the dark alley the two exorcists looked around. The walls were dark and the shadows covered most of the floor. Rosette could just make out the stained dirt where a pool of blood had been. Sitting on the dust was a single black feather. Chrono seemed very edgy in the alley. He picked up the feather and gave it a good sniff.

"It was Ezekiel. I bet he was hunting" Chrono said "Or leaving a trail to lead us here"

"I don't like this guy" Rosette said.

"I don't either. We need to focus on getting Azmaria back" Chrono said.

"Even if Ezekiel wasn't here we won't be able to look since the Elders new weapon is ready yet" Rosette pointed out. She took the feather from Chrono and looked at it. Chrono jumped and looked towards the back of the alley. He winced slightly.

"Hey Chrono, you ok?" Rosette asked. Chrono stiffened suddenly. His hands darted to his large ears. He began to yell and scream.

"No! Stop! Please stop!" he begged. He sank down to his knees and kept screaming. Rosette ran over to her contractor and shook his shoulders.

"Chrono! Chrono, snap out of it!" she exclaimed. Chrono looked up at her with a distant and frightened look in his crimson orbs.

"I can hear them!" he whispered so quietly Rosette barely heard it.

"Hear who, Chrono?" she asked.

"All the victims" Chrono voice shook slightly. Rosette pulled him close to her. Chrono wrapped his arms around her and buried his head into her shoulder. Rosette had been shaken by Chronos reaction. She had never seen him look like that. He had been afraid many times, afraid for Rosette. Never before had she seen him afraid by something like this. She wondered what exactly he heard that could have shaken him up so badly. She stroked his hair softly and murmured soothing words in his ear. Eventually he relaxed and pulled away from her.

"Thanks Rosette. Can we please get out of here?" he asked.

"Sure. Let's go find a diner" Rosette said. Chrono nodded and they left the alley. Chrono cast one last look before following Rosette.

…***…

Chrono looked around the dark alley. He could feel no demon aura around. He could still smell the stench of blood and death. He could see the blood stains on the dusty ground better then Rosette could. All of his senses were much better then hers. He saw the lone feather in the shadows. Bending over to pick him up, he began to hear whispers in his ears. There was too many for him to pick out one. He pushed the voices out of his thoughts and sniffed the feather. Ezekiel's stench over powered the tiny feather.

"It was Ezekiel. I bet he was hunting" Chrono said "Or leaving a trail to trick us"

"I don't like this guy" Rosette said.

"I don't either. We need to focus on getting Azmaria back" Chrono said.

"Even if Ezekiel wasn't here we won't be able to look since the Elders new weapon is ready yet" Rosette pointed out. She took the feather from Chrono and looked at it. The whispers got a little louder and droned in his head. Chrono winced slightly.

"Hey Chrono, you ok?" Rosette asked

Suddenly the whispers began agonized screams. He could pick out voices. 'No please! Don't do this!' 'I'll give you anything!' 'Please don't hurt me!' The screams echoed painfully in his head. Chrono clutched his ears and screamed.

"No! Stop! Please stop!" he begged. His legs gave out from under him and he sank into the blood stained ground. He gripped his ears tightly. The pain in his head was terrible. It felt as if he was getting shot by Joshua in the head again. A warm pare of hands grabbed his shoulders and shook him. Chrono tensed unsure of who it was. He didn't dare open his eyes afraid of who might be there.

"Chrono! Chrono, snap out of it!" Rosette exclaimed.

"I can hear them!" Chrono said looking up at her. Rosettes blue orbs softened and looked down at him sympathetically.

"Hear who, Chrono?" she asked confused.

"All the victims" Chrono voice trembled. Rosette pulled him in for a hug. Chrono gripped her tightly and desperately hid his face in her nuns dress. He didn't know how long she held him like this but the voices eventually died down to a bearable volume. Chrono hesitantly pulled away from her. He was confused still. Why had he heard the voices of Ezekiel's victims? Why were they bothering him? Did they want him to help them or something? _I'm sorry but I can't help you anymore. _

"Thanks Rosette. Can we please get out of here?" he asked.

"Sure. Let's go find a diner" Rosette said. She led him out of the alley. Chrono cast one more glance down the dark alley. He hurried to the diner wanting to get far away from the voices. The farther he got away from the alley the less they spoke to him and the less his head ached.

…***…

_Koi wa amakute nigai mono_

_Tanjunmeikai fukuzatsukaiki na shiromono_

_Dou demo ii koto bakkari ki ni shitari suru no_

_Donna kanji? SONna kanji_

_Onkoutokujitsu EKISENTORIKKU na ANATA_

_Tsuyogaru suburi wo zenshin matotte tachiuchi_

_Sunao na dake da to shigeki ga tsuyokute KURA KURA_

_Kizutsuichau no kizutsukechau no junjou PURE PARA-TO_

Lyrics to Pre-parade (Theme to Toradora)

**A/N:** Well that's it for now! I hope you liked it! The good parts coming soon. I just need to figure out what I'm going to do exactly and find a way to tackle Aion and Ezekiel. To be honest, I didn't plan Ezekiel. He just kinda happened (Sounds really perverted). I should have saved him for another story but I think this might add a good twist. Please enjoy and as promised, a sneak peak!

**Sneak peak:** The Elder is having a family re-union that turns into a skit from Saturday Night Live!

_Rosette:_ Please review!

_Chrono:_ Yay!

_HKA:_ *Glomps Chrono* MINE!


	11. Chapter 11

**Darkest Knight. Chapter 11**

**A/N:** Hey guys! I need to wrap this story up because I need to finish my other story and I started a new one. Moo! Sorry, that was a little random.

_Chrono:_ What's with the cow?

_HKA:_ *giggles* Hatsuharu…

_Rosette:_ …

_HKA:_ From Fruits Basket…dummy.

_Rosette:_ WHAT DID YOU SAY!

_HKA:_ Bring it on!

_Chrono:_ Oh not again! *Slumps*

_**Joshua:**_** Hikari does not own any of the characters from Chrono Crusade.**

_Rosette:_ Thank God!

_HKA:_ Hey!

_**Azmaria:**_** Chrono Crusade belongs to Gonzo and Daisuke Moriyama-sama!**

_**Satella:**_** Hikari only owns Ezekiel.**

_HKA:_ ON WITH THE SHOW!

…***…

_I'm not afraid of tomorrow,_

_I'm only scared of myself,_

_Feels like my insides are on fire, and I'm looking through the eyes of someone else  
_

_I never thought they'd want me to go even faster,_

_Never thought I took my foot off the gas,_

_Everybody loves to be in on the pressure,_

_But I know they're all waiting for the crash_

Lyrics to Tomorrow by SR- 71

...***...

Chrono and Rosette walked out of the diner after dinner. (Lol. That sentence was strange!) It was dusk already. Everything was quiet and empty. Everyone was locked up in fear of whatever monster was out in the shadows. Chrono took Rosettes hand and started to lead her to the hotel. He wasn't about to let her out of his sight. Now that she wouldn't stop missing her lifespan he wasn't going to let anything else get her. In the darkness of the pocketwatch, it had been so lonely and cold. He couldn't stand the suffocating darkness without Rosette and he never wanted to feel that way again.

"Chrono, what are doing?" Rosette exclaimed. She tried to pull her hand back but Chrono tightened his grip instinctively.

"Sorry Rosette" Chrono blushed letting her hand drop back to her side. He avoided looking in her eyes. He knew she didn't like him doing things like that. He just hoped he wouldn't get one of Rosettes famous noogies.

"Chrono, I can take care of myself!" Rosette said defiantly

Chrono couldn't help but chuckle at her, "I know you can Rosette. I just don't want to loose you" Chrono said getting serious. Rosette smiled at her demon partner.

"I don't want to loose you either Chrono. Not ever again" Rosette said with a sad smile. Chrono smiled back and chuckled.

"Why are you laughing at me?" Rosette asked feeling slightly hurt.

"I'm not laughing at you." Chrono said. He got serious and grabbed her hands. Red eyes looked into her azure eyes.

"Rosette" Chrono said. Rosettes heart skipped a couple beats. "I promise I will never leave you again. I can't live without you. You chase away all the bad memories" 'Almost all of them' Rosette smiled. She pulled her demon friend into a warm hug.

"Chrono, I..." Rosette began. She was ready to finally tell her feelings for Chrono.

Suddenly a loud explosion interrupted Rosette.

"Get down!" Chrono pushed Rosette to the ground and held her head down. Pieces of debris rained down on them. Screams pierced the night air. The debris stopped falling. Almost immediately Chrono and Rosette were on their feet.

"Where's my guns?" Rosette asked. People from that side of town started running out of their houses. They shoved past the two in the middle of the road.

"In your room" Chrono answered with a deep frown.

"What!" Rosette screamed. Her voice was drowned out by all the screams.

"Here" Chrono pulled a sword out of its sheath that had been hidden in his jacket, and handed it to Rosette.

"But Chrono," Rosette said "What about you?"

"I promised I wouldn't leave you again remember?" Chrono said. "Now come on. There are others who need help"

Chrono took off towards the explosion. Rosette hurried after him. The dust was starting to settle. Rosette could see the dark figure standing with the limp body of a woman hanging from its grasp. A child sat on its butt at the lone figures feet crying for his mother. A low growl rumbled deep from Chronos throat.

"Ezekiel!" he shouted. Rosette tried to see Ezekiel's features but it was too dark. She wondered how Chrono could see him, must be his demon senses.

"My, my. Now I see why you hang around humans. They are fascinating...and delicious" Ezekiel grinned revealing bloodstained fangs. He dropped the woman's carcass to the ground in front of the child. The child cried louder. Ezekiel looked down at the little kid with a sly smile. He grabbed the child from the back of its shirt and lifted it from the ground. The child feebly tried to kick the demon holding him in the air.

"Put the kid down Ezekiel!" Chrono growled.

"Are you threatening me?" Ezekiel growled. Chrono let out an angered scream and dove at Ezekiel's legs. Ezekiel stuck his sword down as Chrono ran towards him. Chrono collided with Ezekiel's legs. The sword made a long cut along Chronos back. Ezekiel fell backwards from the force of Chrono and dropped the child. Chrono hissed in pain. He grabbed the kid and pushed himself up and tried to run back but Ezekiel grabbed his ankle making Chrono fall. He dropped the kid a few feet in front of him. Chrono reached out for the kid but was a few inches away.

"Rosette!" Chrono screamed. Ezekiel crawled up to Chronos upper body. He held a knife under the purple haired demons throat.

"Any last words, Sinner?" Ezekiel grinned.

"Get your filthy hands off of Chrono" Rosette spat. She slashed Ezekiel's back with Chronos sword. Ezekiel growled and dropped his knife. Chrono hurried out from under him. He grabbed the child and set him back on the floor out of reach of Ezekiel. Another person ran by and picked up the child. Chrono raced back to help Rosette. He tackled Ezekiel from behind. This make Ezekiel's wound on his back open wider. Adrenaline pulsed through Chrono. He wasn't about to let Rosette get hurt by Ezekiel.

Chrono dodged Ezekiel's sword and punched his face. Rosette let out a shriek and slashed Ezekiel again. Ezekiel growled at the two. He was still in his human form.

"I'm tired of playing games with you" Ezekiel growled. A strong dark aura emanated from Ezekiel. A low growl rumbled from his throat. Chrono grabbed Rosettes arm.

"Let's go!" he said. Ezekiel let out an angered yell and transformed into his demon form.

"We need to get out of here Rosette" Chrono said. He and Rosette rounded the corner. They had some time to talk.

"What? We've never run away before and I'm not about to start now!" Rosette exclaimed.

"Rosette" Chrono said in a serious tone. "He is stronger then Aion and I put together!"

"What are we supposed to do though?" Rosette said.

"We can't do anything." Chrono said.

"Have you forgotten something?" a dark voice asked behind the two.

"Ezekiel, leave us alone" Chrono growled. Ezekiel laughed evilly.

"Chrono the Sinner, I have been ordered from Her Majesty, Pandemonium to exterminate you" Ezekiel said taking a step towards the purple haired demon. Chrono stepped back.

"Run Rosette!" he said. He didn't want to have to worry about Rosette. He needed to focus on Ezekiel. He was serious now, and mad. He didn't want to play anymore games with him. Chrono looked back. He had to make sure Rosette left. His eyes widened at a big ball of energy hurtling past him.

A ball of energy flew past Chrono and hit Ezekiel. Ezekiel slammed into the side of a wall. His head hit the hard concrete with a sickening crack. His eyes closed into unconscious. Chrono spun to look at the person who threw the energy ball.

"Shader!" Chrono exclaimed. He blocked Rosettes view from the cat demon that was still holding her hands out to where Ezekiel was. .

"We have no chance against both of them" Rosette whispered to Chrono.

"Chrono, I know you probably don't believe me but you have to trust me! I know a safe spot so follow me!" Shader exclaimed. Chrono looked skeptical but nodded anyway. Ezekiel was more dangerous then Shader. He'd have to take a chance. Shader took his hand and led him away. Chrono grabbed Rosettes arm making a chain. Shader led them far away to a cave in the forest bordering the small town.

Shader went into the cave first then Chrono then Rosette. The cave was dark but since Shader and Chrono were demons they could easily see in the dark. Water dripped in the back of the cave. Thunder boomed as the clouds released their burden. Chrono and Rosette settled down onto the dirt floor

"At least our scent will be washed away" Chrono commented. He watched Shader carefully.

"So what are you doing here Shader?" Rosette asked with a sigh.

"I know you may not trust me, ok you definitely don't trust me, but I swear I did it for your own good. Of I guess I went off track, I know you don't trust me but you have to!" Shader babbled on. Chrono slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. 54 years away from Shader had made him forget her hyperness.

"We don't have to do anything with you" Rosette exclaimed fuming. Chrono looked at Rosette then to Shader.

"Why do we need to trust you Shader? Just get to the point" Chrono said calmly.

"I want to help you" Shader said seriously.

Chrono and Rosettes jaw dropped to the floor. Rosette was the first to recover from the shock.

"Why would you want to help us? You could have planned Chronos death for all we know. Not to mention all the horrible things you caused in New York." Rosette exclaimed.

"Rosette, I did not plan Chronos death, I was just as surprised as you were." Shader said looking truthful.

"What about the demons?" Chrono asked He did want to believe his 'sister' but he couldn't just yet. He couldn't risk Rosette.

"I had to play along. Aion had contacted me and told me he wanted me to take Chrono so he could have him when he released the demons. I did as he said and I released the demons myself so he would think I had meant to trick you guys and I swear I didn't. I really did want to help you but by releasing the other demons I know I could gain his trust so he would let me out on my own." Shader explained quickly in one breath. She took in another breath and took one of Chronos hands and one of Rosettes hands in her own. "I didn't want to hurt anyone. If you'd let me I'd like to help"

There was a long pause between Rosette and Chrono. Both didn't know weather to believe her or not. Finally Rosette spoke again.

"I don't know...You know you will never be allowed back into the Order as long as Sister Kate is around" Rosette said.

"I didn't expect to come back. I just want to help as best as I can" Shader said.

"Shader, why would you want to help us when you are one of Ezekiel's targets? Aion and the other sinners would be able to protect you better" Chrono pointed out.

"Well I'm not 100% safe on Eden. Ezekiel killed Jenai" Shader was cut off by a frantic Rosette.

"Ezekiel was at Eden! What about Joshua and Azmaria? They can't take care of themselves. What if Ezekiel tried to hurt them? What if Azmaria or Joshua gets hurt? What if they get killed? Oh my God, this is all my fault!" Rosette exclaimed. She hated to wait and she hated feeling helpless. She always felt like she was running but that's was better then waiting. At least she didn't have to worry about losing any more time.

"Rosette" Chronos firm voice broke through her thoughts. He had the familiar tortured look in his eyes. Rosette knew that look all to well. She had seen it for ten years. "Its not your fault and don't you ever say that again"

Rosette got mad, really mad, "Don't you dare say it's your fault either! I'm tired of your double standards! It's alright for you to blame yourself but it's not alright for me to blame me!" Rosette shouted. Shader winced at her harsh tone. Chrono looked down, shadows covering his tan face.

"Rosette, I don't want you to blame yourself for things you couldn't stop. I could have prevented everything bad that's happened to you at one point or another. I could have saved you, Azmaria, Joshua, Satella and her sister, all those innocent people Aion killed, and I could have saved Magdalene..." his voice quivered at the mention of his lost loves name. A single silvery tear trickled down his face. He sniffed and wiped it away, hoping no one noticed. Unfortunately for him, Rosette did. Instead of giving him a super-noogie-attack, she pulled him into a warm embrace. Chrono wrapped his arms around her and held onto her tightly, as if he was afraid to let her go, that she would disappear. He buried his head into her shoulder. Rosette gently stroked his violet hair and cooed to him calmingly. Both were lost in time, the cat demon was forgotten, Ezekiel was forgotten, all their problems disappeared like mist in the morning sun. The only thing that existed was each other.

"Chrono, you have to stop beating yourself up. No one would have wanted this. Mary especially would want you to forgive yourself and to be happy" Rosette said gently in his ear. Shader watched from behind them. She had never really understood how much Chrono had suffered when Aion took everything he had away from him. She wanted to reach out to her old friend but now wasn't the right time.

"Rosette, I'm scared" Chrono admitted.

"You're scared?" she asked confused.

She felt him nod, "I'm afraid of what might happen to you now that Ezekiel is in the picture" Chrono said.

"Silly, I'm going to be fine. Just worry about yourself and I'll worry about myself" Rosette said. Shader couldn't help but bite back a smile. Neither of them seemed to be able to worry about themselves.

After a few more minutes of just holding each other, they drew back. The demon smiled gently at the nun and the nun did the same to the demon. Chrono turned his attention back to Shader.

"I don't think we have much of a choice. I think we should try to unite the rest of the Sinners to defeat Ezekiel. He's the biggest threat we ever faced" Chrono pointed out.

"I agree with Chrono!" Shader exclaimed.

Rosette still looked skeptical. She thought about it for a few minutes. How could she work with the same demon that did all those horrible things to herself and Chrono? But could they afford not to team up. Their lives depended on it. If she was dead, or Chrono, could she be able to rescue her apostle friend and brother?

"Ok fine" Rosette said. Shader grinned and Chrono smiled a small smile. "But I don't have to like it!"

"You don't have to, I don't like it neither" Chrono said to Rosette with a smile.

...***...

_My best friend gave me the best advice_

_He said each day's a gift and not a given right_

_Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind_

_And try to take the path less traveled by_

_That first step you take is the longest stride_

__

If today was your last day

_And tomorrow was too late_

_Could you say goodbye to yesterday?_

_Would you live each moment like your last?_

_Leave old pictures in the past_

_Donate every dime you have?_

_If today was your last day_

Lyrics to If Today Was Your Last Day by Nickelback

_HKA:_ I'm running out of songs…I forget which songs I post…if anyone has some suggestions that would be very appreciated!  


…***…

**A/N:** there's the next chapter. By the way, Chrono Crusade is on SyFi on Tuesday nights at 11. Please review and/or take a look at some new one shots I posted! By the way, Happy Birthday Luna. LOL. My friends and I gave each other fake names. My one friend is Luna, another friend is Alice, my contractor is Satella and I'm Azmaria. Hehe. I'm sleeping in the Baltimore Aquarium as I'm writing this. (I write on my iPod then send it to myself in an email, paste it onto Microsoft Word, check it and read it, then post it! LOL) until next chapter, probably on Soar into the Sky or Dark Horse (Heartland fanfic, under books) Bai bai!

_Satella:_ HEY! Where did I go?

_HKA:_ You are at the order.

_Rosette:_ Yeah…I guess we kinda ditched you.

_HKA_: Don't worry. You'll be in the action soon. I'm planning a big battle or something epic like that…I like stuff like that and I think you guys do…for those of you who read the manga. By the way, the internet scanlations are terrible translations. If you can, you should buy the books. Lol. XD There is a huge gap in my collection. I bought 1-3 and then 6. Haha. Randomness…

_Shader:_ I like bacon!

_HKA:_ My bacon!

_Rosette:_ No! My food!

_HKA:_ OH YEAH! I'm gonna write a funny spoof that has to do with McDonalds, Lady Gaga and Computers. Lol XD Its funnier I swear. It'll be a crossover with Back to the Future. GO DOC! AND MARTY (Go Michael J. Fox!) Haha…randomness…again.

_Shader:_ I like bacon…again…

_Rosette:_ Go away!

_HKA: _Wa! Rosette hates me!

_Rosette:_ You hated me too!

_HKA:_ Not anymore. I was judging you by the anime Rosette. The anime sucks. Still good but they completely ruined the manga.

_Chrono:_ Yeah…I looked like a big wimp…

_Satella:_ And I looked like a big meanie.

_Aion:_ Do you even want to get started with me…I mean…they portrayed me as being a heartless doodoo head that actually liked humans…YA SEE! This is why I hate humans!

_HKA:_ Rawr!

_Aion:_ AH! Scary human-monster!*Runs away*

_Rosette:_ Hurray! Your ugliness chased him off!

_HKA:_ -_- Big butt!

_Rosette:_ WHAT DID YOU SAY!

_Chrono:_ Gah! Not again! See you next chapter.

_Azmaria:_ Don't forget to review! It's that button below me! It won't take you too long and it would make Hikari very happy! ^_^

_HKA:_ Almost forgot, is Ezekiel a biblical name…I think I saw it the other day…I don't know much about the Bible even though I want to. Please let me know! Ok _now_ I'm going! Please review! Sorry for asking so much…I feel like such a free loader…lol XD Bai bai!


	12. Chapter 12

**Darkest Knight Authors Note**

Hey guys! It's Hikari! I wanted to say that I am going to re-write this story! I really want to finish this because I think it is one of my better plots and I want to finish this story. I re-read some of the chapters and I realized that I made a lot and I mean A LOT of mistakes. I want things to be perfect for you guys so I'm just going to leave this version here so I can see how it has changed and so I can make reference to it. Comments and reviews are still loved for this story! I don't know when I can get the first chapter up but I will try soon. Arigato!


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